When the Demons Clap
by Shinigami-cat
Summary: I'm afraid you must go, we must appease the beast below.' Twelve countries wake up on a cursed island with no way of escaping. They are being hunted down by monsters and two insane witches, but for what purpose and who exactly is this Beast? Multiple pairings and warnings on the inside.
1. It Starts

**Shinigami-cat: **Once again I've been watching way too much horror movie stuff and playing too many horror games and I came up with another nugget of randomness… I OWN NOTHING!

**Summary:**

'**I'm afraid you must go, we must appease the beast below.' Twelve countries wake up on a cursed island with no way of escaping. They are being hunted down by monsters and two insane witches, but for what purpose and who exactly is this Beast?**

**Warnings:**

**Graphic torture, blood, horror and character death**

**When the Demons Clap**

**It starts**

Feliciano groaned as he rubbed his head. He had a splitting headache, like someone had hit him with a blunt instrument. He slowly sat up and let his eyes adjust to the light or to put it more accurately, the lack of light. It looked like he was in some kind of office building, which was odd.

He slowly got to his feet and wobbled over to the window. Everything was dark outside as storm clouds slowly rolled in. "Where… where am I?" He muttered. He looked around the room he was in again; the paint on the walls was chipped and cracked, the only light in the room was blinking out, papers were scattered all over the floor and there was a message on the wall written in blood.

_Run child run, run for your life._

Feliciano gulped. '_What? What the hell happened here?_' He quickly started to look through the papers for something, anything to give him a little information about where he was. He found nothing. He whimpered. '_What is this place? Where am I? Where's Ludwig? Lovino? Everyone else?_'

The sound off feet shuffling outside the door made him jump. "H-hello?" He whispered. "Ludwig? Someone? Anyone?" There was no response. The sound of shuffling feet just drew closer and closer.

Slowly the door creaked open and a girl with long white hair and grey eyes peeked inside. She smiled sweetly and walked over to Feliciano. She was wearing a white dress, long white silk gloves and white ballet flats. She looked completely innocent if it wasn't for the blood stained pipe in her hands. "Hello Italy." She said sweetly.

"How do you know my country name?" Asked Italy. This little girl may have looked sweet but she was scary.

The girl giggled and put the pipe on the floor. "If you want to live you'll need this." She turned and walked out the door, closing it slowly. "I must warn you, there are many monsters on this island. You have to rely on your gut instinct and not give into fear. Follow the advice you find written on walls and on paper. But you must be careful. You can't trust your eyes. What you see is an illusion of the truth. Good luck. The monsters are coming." With that she shut the door.

Feliciano quickly picked up the pipe and gulped. '_What have I gotten myself into? I hope everyone is safe._'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"This is so unawesome!" Cried Gilbert in frustration. "This stupid house is stupid! Why the hell are we here in the first place?"

"I don't know." Growled Ludwig. "But if you don't shut up and let me think I will punch you in the throat!"

About half an hour ago they had both woken up in a small house near the beach. The house was in complete disarray, like it had been ransacked, but everything was still inside. This confused the both of them. What confused them more was all the dried blood they found in the bath tub. They decided to stay away from there.

"Well what are we going to do?" Snapped Gilbert. "We can't stay in here forever! We need to get out of here and get moving! Try and see if anyone else is here."

"I know." Growled Ludwig. "I know… But we need to find a map or something. See where on earth we are. We might not even be in Europe!"

Suddenly the sound of the front door opening made them jump. Before they could react a little girl with white hair and grey eyes was staring at them. She was holding hand gun and a shot gun. She put them on the ground and giggled. "Hello Prussia, Germany. Sorry to intrude on your brotherly bonding, but it's time to get serious."

"Who the hell are you?" Asked Gilbert.

The girl giggled. "How nice of you to ask. My name is Lapin. I suggest you get your weapons together. The monsters are coming. Nowhere is safe. You can't trust your eyes. What you see is an illusion of the truth. Hopefully I'll see you again." She quickly turned and ran.

Ludwig quickly ran after her. "Wait!" But it was all in vein. The girl was gone. Vanished into thin air.

Gilbert frowned and picked up the guns. He walked over to Ludwig and gave him the hand gun. "That girl… What do you think she meant when she said that monsters were coming?"

"I don't know." Said Ludwig. "But we better be careful. This island doesn't seem very welcoming… If the others are here I hope they are okay."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Arthur slapped the sleeping American in the face. "Wake up git!"

Alfred's eyes snapped open and he cried out in shock. "What the hell?" He blinked a few times and looked around. "Um… why are we in a park?"

"I have no clue." Said Arthur. "I thought that you knew. That's why I woke you up… I think we're on some kind of island… I can smell the sea from here." This whole situation was weird to him. The meeting had just ended, than everything went blank. Next thing he knew he was in a park in some random place. He couldn't place it, but he could feel some kind of force at work. It wasn't evil, yet it wasn't good either. It troubled him greatly.

Alfred shrugged and stretched. "Well, let's have a look around and see where we are."

"No." Said Arthur. "We should stay here… I don't like this place. There's a weird energy coming from here."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "A weird energy? More of your magic crap?"

Arthur glared at Alfred. He was going to kill that American one day. "Magic is real damn it and I have you know there is something weird happening here and I don't like it! Do you have your phone? I left mine in my hotel room."

Alfred grinned and pulled out his phone. "Fully charged and ready to go." He was about to look through his contact when it started to ring. There was no caller ID. He frowned and answered. "Hello?"

"Look behind England, America." Whispered a creepy child-like voice. Alfred gulped and looked behind Arthur. Standing a few feet away was a girl with short black hair and yellow eyes, wearing a black Lolita dress, black fingerless gloves and combat boots. She was holding an axe and a revolver. "HOLY SHIT!" Cried Alfred.

Arthur spun around and jumped in shock. "BLOODY HELL!"

The girl smirked sadistically. "Grow a spine." She put the revolver and the axe on the ground. "I'll make this quick, there are monsters everywhere on this island. Take these if you want to live. See you two later, maybe." She quickly turned and started to run away.

"Wait!" Called Arthur. "Who are you?"

The girl looked over at them and smirked sadistically. "Why do you want to know? You're just going to die anyway." With that she ran off and disappeared into the trees.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Ivan frowned a little to himself as he walked down the dusty hallways of what looked like an elementary school. Moments ago he had woken up in the hallway with an aching back. It was frustrating to say the least, but at least he was okay. Perhaps this was one of Alfred's stupid pranks? If it was Alfred he was going to say hello to Ivan's fists when they next met.

"Wonder where I am exactly." He pondered out loud to himself. There were some odd coloured stains on the grey walls; it was a brownish red colour, it almost looked like rust but he knew it wasn't.

"Mr Russia?" Whispered a quiet voice. "I have something for you."

Ivan turned around to see a little girl with long white hair and grey eyes. She was holding a faucet pipe behind her back. "Now who might you be little girl?" Asked Ivan in his creepy child-like voice. "And how might you know my country name?"

The girl giggled and put the pipe on the floor. "I know many things Mr Russia. If you want to survive this island hell I suggest you take heed to the warnings on the walls and get out of here as soon as possible." She quickly turned around and started to run. She looked over her shoulder and smiled sweetly. "My name is Lapin, the white witch!"

Ivan frowned and picked up the pipe. "A witch da? How interesting… I wonder what she meant by the writing on the walls?" He continued to walk down the hallway but froze dead in his tracks when he turned a corner. "I guess this is what she meant…" Written on the walls in dried blood, were messages, some of them were even scratched into the walls, finger nails could be seen hanging out of the groves in some of the letters.

_There is no escape!_

_They always follow you. You can't escape!_

_It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!_

_Why is this happening?_

_What did I do?_

_I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!_

_Please! I don't want to die!_

_I DON'T WANT TO DIE!_

_I don't want to die like this!_

_Why do you hate me?_

_I thought I could out run them. I was wrong…_

_Why?_

_I'm scared._

_Save me._

_Please…Please forgive me._

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Antonio groaned as he rubbed his aching head. He slowly sat up and looked around; he seemed to be lying on some moss bed near what looked like a calming lagoon. His first though was along the lines of how wonderful it was to have fallen asleep near such an inviting looking place. His second thought was how he had gotten there in the first place.

"So now the tomato bastard's awake." Growled Lovino.

"I told you he would wake up soon." Cooed Francis.

Antonio grinned and turned to see Lovino and Francis arguing a few feet away. "Hey guys!" He called cheerfully. "Where are we?"

"We thought you might have some idea." Said Francis sadly.

Lovino rolled his eyes. "I knew the bastard wouldn't know where the fuck we are."

Antonio shrugged when something caught his attention. It was a young girl with short black hair and yellow eyes. She was holding a sniper, machete and a buck knife. "Why don't we ask that girl over there?" Asked Antonio.

The two other nations turned around and jumped. "Where the fuck did she come from?" Snapped Lovino.

"Shut the fuck up bitch." Hissed the girl. She dropped the weapons and sighed dramatically. "Listen up Spain, France and Romano. You three are stuck on an island, blah, blah, blah, monsters everywhere, blah, blah, blah, you'll all die, blah, blah, blah… Good fucking luck. You're all going to need it." Quick as a flash she ran off into the trees and disappeared.

"What just happened?" Asked Antonio.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"I can't believe we're stuck in this creepy place, aru." Muttered Yao as he kicked a bottle of pills across the floor.

Kiku nodded in agreement. "It does seem like an unfortunate turn of events. I wonder how we got stuck in the hospital in the first place. It is quite a mystery." Ten minutes ago they had both woken up in two shabby looking hospital beds. They had attempted to open the door and leave but it wouldn't budge one bit. Since then they had been contemplating ways to get out.

"I don't like mystery's that much." Sighed Yao. He looked out the window and frowned. "Do… do you think that anyone else is here?"

Kiku frowned. He didn't like the idea of anyone else being in such a strange place, but hopefully if someone else was here they could help explain things. "Perhaps. But we should concentrate about getting out of here first. I don't like this place."

The sound of scraping outside the door made them both jump. Seeing as how both of them were skilled in martial arts they weren't too worried about whatever could be on the other side, but it was best to exercise caution. The sound of the lock clicking open made them slightly nervous but when the door opened and a young girl with white hair and grey eyes opened the door they both relaxed slightly.

"Are you okay there young miss?" Asked Kiku politely.

Yao smiled at her wand walked over to her. "It's okay, we won't hurt you. Please tell us what your name is."

The girl grinned and pointed a bloodied metal spear at Yao and a dull katana at Kiku. "I'm happy that you two won't hurt me. My name is Lapin. These items in my hands are my gifts to you." She put them on the floor and giggled. "If I were you two I would get out of this haunted hospital as soon as possible. The monsters in here are rather vicious when someone new encroaches on their territory."

"Haunted hospital?" Questioned Kiku.

"Monsters?" Asked Yao.

Lapin giggled and nodded cheerfully. "Oh yes. Hundreds of evil creepy crawlies live on this island. Monsters that spit acid, block paths, crush, cut and devour live here." She spun on her heels and ran out of the room and down the hallway. "Be careful now!" She called.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Matthew groaned as he slowly sat up, his whole body felt like it was burning, like he had run a marathon or played hockey for twenty four hours straight. He sighed as he had a quick look at his surroundings; small shops that appeared to be closed were left and right, a town hall to his right and a church to his left. It appeared that he was in some sort of town square.

"Maple…" He muttered. "What happened?"

"Well Canada there was a bit of this and a bit of that." Giggled a female voice. Matthew quickly turned his head and almost jumped out of his skin. Sitting next to him was a girl with short black hair and yellow eyes, wearing a black Lolita dress, black fingerless gloves and combat boots. She was holding a metal baseball bat covered in dry blood.

"Who are you?" Cried Matthew in shock.

The girl laughed and gave Matthew the bat. "Nice to see you too." She jumped up and spun around. "Well I guess I have some explaining to do. Everything on this island is cursed! There are monsters everywhere! They all want your blood and the blood of the other nations! You have your bat, now you must either kill or be killed!"

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Asked the confused Canadian.

The girl grinned sadistically. "Simple dimple little pimple. You are out in the open. Many monsters just love to hunt out in wide open spaces. You need to hide. Try to find your friends. That is, if they are still alive." With that she turned and started to run away. "Good luck Canada, I'm cheering for you!"

Matthew quickly got up, still clutching the bat and chased after her. "What are you?" He yelled.

The girl skidded to a stop and grinned. "First time I've been asked that. Okay Canada, I'm going to give you some vital information. My name is Neko. I am the black witch of this island. My little sister is Lapin, she's the white witch. Neither of us will save you or the others here unless you appease us, but even then we will happily watch you all die. All together there are… Twelve sacrifices on this island including you."

Matthew gulped. "S-sacrifices? You mean we're all going to die no matter what we do?"

Neko nodded. "Yep. But do try your best to survive, or at least make it a good show. Lapin and I will be watching. Your deaths will appease the Beast." With that Neko quickly spun around in a circle and vanished in a puff of mist, leaving Matthew all alone.

He gulped as his eyes darted around the town square. "Oh god. Oh god… What's going on?"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **And so begins twisted horror, betrayal, deception, gore, love, hate and death. Please review!


	2. Church Bells

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey people! Well I don't have too much to say on this chapter so… I OWN NOTHING!

**Church Bells**

Neko sighed dramatically as she stood over a cauldron whittling little wax figures. "Another day another dollar." She muttered. A few seconds later her sister appeared. "And where might you have been?" Demanded Neko. "I already told my people the rules ages ago!"

Lapin shrugged and ran her fingers along the cauldron's edge. "I had more people to talk to… And I had to go over the basic rules… How did you go?"

"I swore at Romano and gave Canada some vital information. Nothing special."

Lapin's jaw dropped. "Neko! You're not allowed to do that! It's against the rules to do that this early in the game! By going that you've ruined everything!"

Neko scoffed as she started to dig out an eye on her wax figure. "Excuse me, but I didn't tell him about the overlap world or the memory pulses or anything extensive about the Beast… Besides you know me, I believe that all rules are meant to be broken, no matter how taboo they might be."

Lapin huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine… So you didn't tell him about the really important stuff… But how long until we can add the monsters into the mix?"

"As soon as I've finished this." Muttered Neko. "All done!" She happily held up a small figure of a tall skinny person, whose arms were melted into its face, giving it the impression it was screaming.

Lapin clapped her hands in delight. "It's so fitting! Put it in! Put it in! Put the others in too!"

"With pleasure." Neko smirked and picked up a small box full of wax figures. She dropped the screaming figure into the cauldron and started to toss in other similar figures; a mannequin covered in a cloth, a little baby doll, a rotted figure holding an axe, a round person covered in stitches, a bed with two bulges in it, a figure curled up in the foetal position, an anorexic person who was reaching out, a crying girl and a monstrous gorilla sloth hybrid. The water in the cauldron bubbled and boiled, popped and hissed turning a murky yellow colour.

Lapin sighed as she watched her older sister work. "Do you think it will learn anything from this?"

Neko shrugged. "Does it matter if they do or if they don't? I'm afraid that they must go, we must appease the Beast below… Besides, I love watching these idiots die in horrible ways… How long until you think they start to kill each other?"

"The Beast doesn't like it when we take bets." Said Lapin. "Says we become too competitive and end up killing the sacrifices before their time."

Neko sighed. "Fine. No bets… Let's just go for a walk and see if any of them die…" A sadistic smirk stretched across her face. "All my people were left out in the open, exposed."

Lapin giggled and clapped. "How wonderful! I want to see their brains colour the pavement and flavour the water!"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Feliciano slowly walked down the halls of the office holding on tight to the pipe. The lights kept flickering and he could hear small creeks and groans coming from inside the walls. It was almost as if the building was alive. The sound of something shattering made Feliciano jump. It came from a room down the end of the hall.

Feliciano gulped and slowly walked towards the room. Chills ran up and down his spine as he slowly reached towards the door, his hand was shaking. He gripped the cold metal of the doorknob and twisted it, slowly pushing it open. Inside the room was an overturned desk and more blood on the walls.

He cautiously walked into the room clearing his throat. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" There was no response. Feliciano gulped and walked over to the overturned desk and started to look through the draws in the desk. He found a note.

_I didn't know what they were at first, I thought they were people but I was wrong… They scream just before they attack. It's not too hard to kill them. Just hit them really hard in the head with whatever you have handy… I hope the others are still alive. If they have succumbed to insanity again… No I can't think about that. If they have gone insane I have to look after myself. I will not lose. Not to those witches, not to monsters and most importantly of all I won't lose to the Beast below. I have to stay strong I_

The rest of the note was torn, making it impossible to read. Feliciano shuddered. Growing up with a strong Catholic background he could only associate 'the Beast below' with one creature; the fallen angel Lucifer, Beelzebub, the devil, Satan. A hundred names in thousands of languages but all meant the same thing. Was he dealing with some kind of supernatural deity?

He stuffed the note into his pocket and walked out of the room, catching a glimpse of something stumbling around a corner. With his heart racing, Feliciano slowly walked towards the figure. He could see its elongated shadow being cast across the walls and froze.

The body was twisted and warped as it slowly staggered down the hall. With fear gripping him tightly, Feliciano peeked around the corner. He felt his blood run cold; down the hall were three horribly distorted and warped figures, hands moulded into their flesh coloured faces, mouths wide and gaping like a fish out of water. It was terrifying.

Feliciano shuddered in fear. '_What are those things? Who cares I have to get out of here… Hopefully I won't see any more of those things._' He turned around only to come face to face with one of those monsters. Feliciano screamed.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Matthew quickly pulled open the door to the church and slammed it shut. After years of living with England he had learnt a few things about witches, one of which being that they grow weak and can even die from entering a holy place. The church seemed like the safest place to be.

The interior was covered in a fine layer of dust and grime. Not the most well-kept church in the world, but it was still a holy place. He walked over to the alter and sighed. "Maple… What am I going to do? What can I do? How can I get the others here? Maybe my phone…" He quickly checked his phone and sighed disappointedly. "No reception? How can I get them here?"

With nothing better to do he started to look around for something, anything that might help. The only things that he found that were remotely useful were several metal crucifixes that had some weight behind them. They could make good weapons if the time came. Hopefully it wouldn't.

Once he was done searching the main hall of the church he started to look through the smaller back rooms. There was nothing of real interest or too much importance in any of them, but there was a key to the bell tower. Matthew smiled. If he rang the bell the others would come… well they might come. Had to find out who else was here.

He walked down a small hallway and opened up the small door at the end. It was grey and the paint was flaking a little but he could easily open the door with the key.

When the door was open he quickly made his way up the weathered steps. When he got to the top he was disappointed to see that the rope had rotted away making it impossible to ring the bell. "Maple… How could this day get any worse?"

He walked over to the open window, as he gazed out at the surrounding buildings fear cut through him like a knife. Creatures were crawling across the sides of the buildings, human like figures were stumbling, dragging themselves and limping around the place.

The blond gulped. '_Damn it… There are so many of them already. Is everyone okay? I have to find a way to get them here!_' He looked down at the bat still in his hand. He shrugged and turned to the bell raising the bat. '_This had batter work…_' With as much power as he could, the blond struck the bell.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Arthur and Alfred looked around in confusion. "Dude… Who's ringing the bell?"

"That's not just any bell…" Murmured Arthur. "That's a church bell. Someone else is here and they've found a safe place! Come on!" He grabbed Alfred and started to pull him towards the sound.

Alfred frowned and quickly tried to pull himself out of Arthur's grip. "Dude! Calm your tits! Have you forgotten that there are supposed to be monsters everywhere? Did you hear that little girl?"

"She isn't a girl." Muttered Arthur. "She's a witch… I'm pretty sure she's half of the equinox."

"Equa what?" Asked Alfred.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "You lack of vocabulary astounds me… It doesn't matter anyway. Unless we see her other half I can't say for certain that she is half of the equinox."

"Dude! Stop using big words!" Whined Alfred. The sound of a branch snapping made them both jump. Alfred held on tightly to his axe and gulped. "Dude… Do you think that's one of the monsters?"

Arthur shrugged. "I don't know… But we should be careful… We still need to get to that church."

Alfred shook his head. "Why are you so obsessed with that church? I like know that someone's there, but you need to calm down!"

Arthur glared at the American. "Despite what you might think of believe magic is real and that girl was a witch. I don't care about the monsters that may or may not be here, all I care about is getting to the safe zone! Even you would have to understand a safe zone!"

Alfred sighed. "Yeah I guess…" Something moving just out of the corner of his eye made him jump. "DEMENTOR!" He screamed as he swung his axe around and slammed the axe into a tree.

Arthur face palmed. "You are an idiot!"

"Hey I thought I saw something!" Whined Alfred. He pulled the axe out of the tree and froze. Blood started to ooze down the tree as a translucent shape started to slowly appear. It looked like a mannequin covered in a clear cloth. It slowly slumped down into a bloody pile at the base of the tree. "S-see?" Stuttered Alfred. "Told you I saw something…"

Arthur gulped. "What the hell is that thing?" He walked over to it a crouched down, poking it with a stick. It was soft like flesh, but at the same time it had a plastic shine to it. Its claw like hands weren't making it look any better either. "This was definitely made with magic. There's no doubt about it."

"No way." Said Alfred. "It has to be some kind of freaky government conspiracy or super soldiers!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe Alfred's stupidity. The truth was right in his face, yet he couldn't believe it. "There are some things that science can't explain you git!" He stood up again and quickly checked the revolver. There were bullets, but not enough to waist on anything. "We need to keep moving to the church. We can't afford to delay this any further."

Alfred nodded in agreement and the two started to make their way towards the church. Hopefully they would make it there alive.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert and Ludwig quickly looked around. "What's with the church bell?" Asked Gilbert. "Think someone else is here and trying to get help or do you think it's a trap? Wouldn't be surprised if was a trap."

Ludwig shrugged and took the safety off his hand gun. "I have no idea… But it wouldn't hurt to check it out."

The brothers exited the house and slowly started to make their way down the street of the residential area. Gilbert wasn't sure what freaked him out more; the fact that there was supposed to be monsters or the fact that everything looked like some strange cookie cutter picturesque 1950's village.

"I fucking hate this place." He growled. "This place is insane! I swear I'm going to murder that little white haired girl when we next see her. Take this shot gun and shoot her in the forehead."

"Calm down Gilbert." Muttered Ludwig. "If you kill her we might not get any answers."

Gilbert shrugged. "I guess… But that bitch is going down!"

The sound of something wheezing caught them both off guard. It was raspy and sounded unnatural, like they were gasping and struggling to breathe. They shared a look and slowly continued down the street towards the sound. Cautiously they walked over to an alleyway and looked down it.

Crawling across the ground were several anorexic looking figures. They skin was dark green, almost black and leathery, eyes had yellow film over them, a thick white foam flowed out of their nose as tears streamed from its eyes and a noxious green gas spewed from its gaping mouth.

Not wanting to waste any ammo the brothers decided to avoid those creatures. They walked past the alleyway as quietly as possible. If there were more monsters around they wanted to waste as little ammunition as possible. As they walked towards the sound of the bell they moved out of the residential area and towards a series of office blocks.

The sound of several glass objects shattering and shrieking from one of the upper levels of one of the taller building's made them both jump. "What the hell is that?" Questioned Gilbert.

Suddenly a window shattered and a body fell out, screaming and shrieking at the top of their lungs "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The body of the person hurtled to the ground. In the blink of an eye they slammed into a car crushing it and bending it to their shape. Any normal human would have died from the impact, but this person wasn't a normal human. "Germany…" He whimpered. "Germany…"

"ITALY!" Cried Ludwig. He ran over to Feliciano. "Italy! What… what happened to you? You need to stay awake!"

Gilbert ran over to his brother and looked down at Feliciano's body; bruises and cuts covered his face arms and visible skin, blood covered his face and he was clutching a bloodied pipe. "Shit."

Feliciano coughed up some blood. "I… I was so afraid… I tried to outrun them… but… I… I guess that they were faster…"

"Don't talk." Whispered Ludwig in a calming voice. "Nod if you can stand up, shake if you can't." Feliciano shook his head. "We need to get him to a hospital."

"There's no one here." Said Gilbert. "Besides, we are nations right? As long as he doesn't move too much he should be okay… But we can't stay out here. Whatever hurt him is still in that building and those weird gasser things are still around. We need to get to that church."

Ludwig nodded in agreement. "Feliciano, is anything broken? I'm going to try and lift you up."

Feliciano shook his head. "I'm fine… My back just feels weird… Like I popped something out of place." He reached up a little and smiled. Ludwig nodded and carefully picked up the injured man, doing his best not to hurt him further. It wasn't safe here. It wasn't safe anywhere.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Kiku and Yao managed to make their way out of the hospital and to the church. Their clothes were slightly torn and singed a little, but apart from that they were okay. "There are so many monsters here." Said Kiku.

Yao nodded in agreement. "I know… Those screaming ones are insane. They were so fast, like a blur."

"But they are easy to kill." Said Kiku thankfully. He pushed open the doors of the church. Inside was nothing like they expected. Ludwig and Gilbert were standing over Feliciano's body while Lovino sat next to him, holding his hand. Arthur and Alfred were there too, they were more concerned with Francis who seemed to be bleeding heavily from his head. Ivan and Antonio were looking around the room looking for anything they could use to help the two. After a while the church bell stopped ringing and someone walked into the room, entering from a side door. He looked like Alfred, but he looked different. It was his brother, but his name had escaped Kiku at the moment.

Alfred looked up at Yao and Kiku grinning. "Dude! Looks like that's the last of us. We're all here!"

"And where is here?" Asked Yao.

Ivan shrugged. "I believe we are on a cursed island, da. It looks like that little witch girl and her monsters are here… Seems as though she wants us to die here."

"Can't say we've done anything to provoke her though." Muttered Arthur.

"I know I've done nothing." Muttered Francis as he pressed the sleeve of his shirt against the cut on his forehead. "But they still sent those creatures after us…"

"What the hell is going on here?" Snapped Lovino as he pulled his hair in frustration. "It's all that bitch's fault! I swear I'll fucking shooter her in her fucking yellow eye!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "The bitch had grey eyes. Not yellow eyes."

"No she had yellow eyes you fucker!" Snapped Lovino.

"Shut up!" Snapped Arthur. "Everyone just shut up! It'll be best if we just sit down and talk about what the fuck happen when we woke up here! That way we'll all know what the fuck is going on or at least have a better idea!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

Feliciano coughed. "I woke up in an office building… There were creatures that kept screaming and running and… I killed a few of them but I was knocked out a window… Ludwig and Gilbert found me, they saved me…"

Lovino snorted. "If those bastards actually saved you, you wouldn't have fallen out a window!"

"At least you were with a group." Hissed Gilbert. "Be fucking thankful that Antonio and Francis were there! Feliciano had to survive on his own!"

"Calm down." Said Antonio. "Why don't you tell them what happened to us Lovino?"

Lovino huffed and crossed his arms. "Fine… The tomato bastard, the wine bastard and I woke up near a lagoon. Next thing we knew some creepy girl showed up and gave us some weapons. We heard the bell ringing and followed it… But not before some fucking psycho with an axe tried to kill us. It almost got Francis, that's why he's like that… Then there were these crying bitches that tried to claw us to death. Then we got here."

"I saw those crying things too da." Said Ivan. "I woke up in a school. There were bloody messages and scratches on the wall talking about the horrors that await us. It is quite a scary thought… But as I tried to leave I found some weird dolls." A dark aura surrounded him. "Those dolls started to attack me but I smashed in their skulls. After that I left the building and had to kill the crying creatures."

Gilbert frowned. "Did anyone see those freaky things that were spewing green gas everywhere?" No one responded. Gilbert sighed. "Ludwig and I woke up in a house and found those things in an alleyway. After that we found Feliciano falling out of a building."

"What about you two?" Arthur asked Yao and Kiku. "What happened to you two?"

Yao shrugged. "We woke up in a hospital. There were lots of strange creatures in there… A bed that looked like there were two figures on it and a creature that rocked back and forth, spitting acid when anyone got too close… What about you Arthur? How did you get here?"

"Alfred can explain." Said Arthur.

Alfred sighed. "Dude… we woke up in this park and then we heard this bell going off, then I like totally killed this thing that looked invisible until you killed it… Then we saw these huge giant fat things that just blocked our path and when we killed them their bodies ripped open and all these festering dead rats spewed out of it!"

That imagery made everyone cringe. It was just gross and disturbing. Matthew cleared his throat. "There are two witches… Neko the black witch and her sister Lapin is the white witch… Everyone here is a sacrifice for a creature called The Beast."

Arthur frowned. "Black and white witch… sisters…"

"What are you thinking Arthur-kun?" Asked Kiku.

"Nothing." Muttered Arthur. "It's just a thought… But it's nothing important. I'm probably wrong… Yes, definitely wrong."

"What are we going to do now?" Asked Francis. That question seemed to be on everyone's mind. Could they really do anything at all? There were monsters everywhere and so were the creepy witches.

Laughter broke the silence. Everyone looked over at Gilbert with confusion. "It's fucking obvious what we need to do! We need to survive! There's no fucking way I'm going to let some fucking monsters and two fucked up witches get in my fucking way. Besides, we are countries aren't we? We can't die! I'm more than living proof of that! Those witches will regret the day that they tried to cage awesome Prussia!"

Gilbert's light hearted attitude seemed to lighten the mood a little and boot their moral. "We need to get some medical supplies." Said Ivan. "Feliciano and Francis need them and I'm sure that we will need it later on too."

"I will volunteer to go." Said Kiku. "I can defend myself quite well and I know the basic layout of the hospital."

"I'll go to." Said Matthew quietly. "I have to help papa…"

"Then the hero goes to!" Cheered Alfred. "The hero always helps those in trouble!"

Gilbert grinned. "Then I better go to. Alfred's going to end up killing someone at this rate." With the group decided they bid farewell to their friends and headed out to the hospital.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… they are so fucking screwed. Please review!


	3. Hospital

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey people! Ready for the next terrifying chapter? Well if you're not I don't care… I OWN NOTHING!

**Hospital**

It had been about half an hour since the four had left for the hospital and everyone was getting a little nervous. "You think they're okay?" Asked Antonio. "There are quite a lot of monsters out there…"

"Kiku, Alfred and Gilbert can hold their own in a fight." Said Arthur calmly. "As for, um… Alfred's brother I'm not so sure…"

"Matthew can fight." Said Francis calmly. The blood on his face had clotted by now, it flaked across his skin and caked his hair. "He's stronger than most of you give him credit for."

Yao shrugged. "Be that as it may, one of them might die still… But they are strong aru." He slowly started to massage Feliciano's back in an attempt to relieve any pain he might have. It worked, but it wasn't the best for his aching back. "You doing okay Feliciano?"

Feliciano nodded a little. "Si… The pain is worse in my lower back."

Suddenly the sound of rocks hitting the door made everyone look at each other. Ivan looked out the window and frowned. "It's them. The witches."

Arthur growled and walked to the door, closely followed by Lovino and Antonio. They opened the doors and glared at the witches who were hovering just above the ground. "What the bloody hell do you want?" Growled Arthur.

Lapin smiled softly. "We were just in the neighbourhood and we decided to see how everything was going with you guys… Besides we have the next part of the rules to tell you."

"You sick fucks!" Snapped Lovino. "You think this is a fucking game? Go to fucking hell already!"

Neko growled and moved Lapin behind her. "Don't you fucking talk like that to my sister you cock sucking fuck face! I swear as soon as you take a fucking step outside of that church I'll curse you! You'll kill yourself and no one will be able to save you!"

Lapin sighed. "Please calm down sister… you can't kill them in this reality… Not in this world."

"What do you mean this world and or reality?" Asked Antonio.

Neko giggled. "It's quite simple really, there are two realities. The normal world and the warped world. At the moment this is the normal world, filled with monsters. The warped world has pretty much no monsters, but you are ten times more likely to die there than here."

"And why might that be?" Growled Arthur.

Lapin grinned. "Because you're more prone to insanity there. You give into fear and therefore give into death and death gives into you."

Neko nodded happily. "Yep. Also, very importantly, if you happen to die in the warped world your death is forever implanted in that world. If you happen to come across an object you might touch a memory pulse."

"What's a memory pulse you stupid bitch?" Growled Lovino

Neko laughed. "You expect me to tell you when you call me that? Well I'll tell you any way… If you die in this world an object or mark becomes attacked to you in some way. Say if Lapin died by being crushed to death and I saw it but one of you touched something that you could either see everything from her perspective or mine… But instead of seeing me or Lapin you would see someone you care about… One of your friends. It's hard to explain."

"It drives you crazy." Said Lapin happily. "And the crazier you are the more likely you are to harm each other. It's fun." She happily spun around in a circle but suddenly stopped. "Neko… Four people are missing from the church."

A twisted grin spread across Neko's face. "Oh really? Well this is your world Lapin, who's missing?"

"America, Canada, Japan and Prussia." Said Lapin happily. She started to jump up and down excitedly. "Is big sister going to throw them into the warped world?"

"Oh yes!" Cheered Neko. "I'll make them lose their minds!"

"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM THEM!" Screamed Arthur. "TOUCH THEM AND YOU WILL BOTH DIE!"

Neko and Lapin laughed. "We can't die." They said in unison. "Life has forsaken us and death has rejected us. We only follow orders from out master The Beast."

Lapin tugged on Neko's arm. "Let's go to the hospital. I sense those four are in there right now… They are ready to suffer and die."

Neko grinned as she and her sister slowly started to fade away. "It's so much fun sending people into the warped world when they don't know about it…"

When the girls were gone Arthur and Antonio closed the heavy doors. Silence filled the church. They had no idea what the witches were talking about, but they knew that something terrible would befall the four that entered the hospital.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

With little difficulty they made it to the hospital, but when they got inside things seemed odd. "This place has changed…" Muttered Kiku.

"What do you mean?" Asked Alfred. "Seems like a normal creepy, haunted hospital to me."

"Well yes… but the walls were a whitish grey before." Said Kiku. "They are a weird rusty red colour now."

Gilbert shrugged. "You were probably concentrating on getting out of here, rather than the wall paint." Kiku frowned a little and reluctantly agreed with the two men, even though his gut feeling was telling him that there was something really wrong about this place. "We should split up." Announced Gilbert with a grin. "Birdie and I will go look for medical supplies on the second floor and you and Kiku can look down here."

"Dude, you are so not going anywhere with my bro!" Snapped Alfred. He grabbed Matthew and pulled him close. "I'm the hero! I'll look after my little bro!"

Matthew sighed and pulled himself out of his brother's grip. "Alfred, it's okay. I'm going with Gilbert and you can go with Kiku. You need someone to stop you from doing something stupid."

Gilbert smirked triumphantly and pulled Matthew close. "See? Birdie likes me better than you."

"Can we please not fight about this?" Asked Kiku calmly. "We need to help Feliciano-kun and Francis-san." With a few angry glairs and smirks the two groups split up.

Gilbert was quite happy to be paired with the smaller Canadian. This was because he sort of had a small crush on him, but he was too awesome for crushes. Crushes were so unawesome. '_Maybe if I show him how well I can protect him he'll like me?_' He shook his head. '_Stupid thought._'

They made it safely upstairs and started to look around, they were surprised that they couldn't see any monsters, but they kept their guard up. Those monsters weren't going to get the drop on them.

"Weird…" Muttered Matthew.

"What?" Asked Gilbert.

Matthew shook his head a little. "It's just… Doesn't it seem a little weird to you? I mean Kiku said that this place was different and there are no monsters around… It almost feels like another place entirely."

"I guess…" Said Gilbert. "But you never know… It could just be the work of those witches."

"I guess we aren't really safe anywhere…" Said the Canadian quietly. He sighed a little. "Do you think there was a reason we were taken? Neko did say we are sacrifices…"

Gilbert shrugged. "Maybe, but I don't think it's too important right now. Let's just focus on getting some medical supplies to help Francis and Feliciano."

Suddenly the sound of something shattering made them both jump. The sound had come from the bathroom. Gilbert frowned and quickly moved to the door, quietly gesturing Matthew to follow him. Cautiously Gilbert opened the door. "Clear…" They looked into the bathroom and Gilbert pulled a face. "Gross… smells like something's died in here… I though hospital bathrooms were supposed to be clean!"

"I think it's coming from in there…" Muttered Matthew. He pointed over to a rusty looking bucket that was sitting next to a length of nylon rope. Inside the bucket was a lump of foul, rotted mean, covered in maggots.

Gilbert pulled a face. "That is sick…" He walked over to the sinks and started to turn them on to see if any water came out. Only thick, red rusted water glopped out. In the cracked reflection of the mirror he could see the whole bathroom; yellow tiles, three stalls, a couple of broken urinals and some pipes running across the roof. "Well… noting in here, let's get moving."

Matthew frowned a little and tugged on Gilbert's shirt. "Hey, um… I kind of need to go… Could you wait outside and make sure no monsters come in?"

"Of course Birdie." Said Gilbert happily, grinning from ear to ear. "Yell if some crazy fucking monster crawls out of the toilet or busts through a wall."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah… Just get out of here already."

Gilbert chuckled and stood guard at the door. But after a few seconds he started to get bored… and a little concerned. After a while he looked at the clock and frowned. He had been waiting outside the bathroom for about ten minutes now, way longer than anyone needed to be in there if they were just using the toilet. He frowned and opened the door. "Hey Matthew, you almost done in th-" Gilbert blood ran cold, above one of the stalls he could see a rope tied to a pipe. "Oh fuck no!"

He ran over to the stall and pushed it open. Dangling from the rope was Matthew, the nylon rope neck dug deep into his neck. "Gi…l…b…er…t…" He gurgled.

Gilbert gasped in shock. "Matthew! You're still alive? Hold on! I'll get you down!" He grabbed Matthew and tried to loosen the rope around his neck, but it was all in vein, he just made the knot tighter, choking the blond further. "Shit! I'll find something for you to stand on!" Cried Gilbert.

He quickly looked behind Matthew and growled in frustration. The toilet was mashed to bits. He would have to find something else. He frantically started to look around the room.

He was not going to let Matthew die. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the rusty, maggoty bucket. He quickly ran over to it and tipped its gory contents onto the floor, getting maggots all over his hands, pants and feet. It was disgusting, but he needed to do it. He quickly ran back over to Matthew. "Matthew! I'm right here, don't die on me yet!"

With blank eyes, Matthew swung slowly back and forth in his noose; all life had been completely drained from his face. His eyes had become completely glazed over, tears had built up in the corners of his eyes but refused to spill over and drool still ran down his chin from his gaping mouth.

Gilbert dropped the bucket. "Ahhh…" His whispered, his body trembling in fear as he backed away from the corpse. "Ahhhhh… aahhh… ahhhhh… NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO! MATTHEW! NOOOO! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS? NOOOOOOOOOO! MATTHEW!" He couldn't stop the tears that were starting to flow from his eyes. "Why? Why is this all happening? How could he just kill himself? Matthew… How could he just do that? Matthew… Birdie…" He fell to his knees and started to beat the ground with his fist. "IT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR! YOU BITCHE'S! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU ALL FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MATTHEW!"

"Eh? What are you on about Gilbert?" Asked Matthew.

Gilbert gasped and quickly looked up. He wasn't in the bathroom at all. He was on his knees in a janitor's closet yelling at a mop. The rusty bucket he had been holding was a plastic bucket filled with rags. "Oh fuck…" Whispered Gilbert, his voice trembling. "What the fuck happened?"

Matthew shrugged. "I don't know. When I came out of the bathroom you were gone… Then I heard you screaming. What happened?" He walked over to Gilbert and crouched down next to him. "You seem really shaken up…"

"Yeah…" Whispered Gilbert. "I… I saw you… You had… you had hung yourself… I tried to save you but you died before I could…"

Matthew smiled and crouched down next to the albino and hugged him. "I was so scared." He said, his voice cracking a little. "It sounded like you were dying… You can't die on me…"

Gilbert hugged Matthew tightly. "What the hell is this place?"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Alfred was quite happy at the absence of monsters, but Kiku seemed a little worried. "Dude, be glad we haven't seen any monsters yet."

Kiku shrugged. "I guess… But it feels a little off… This place was crawling with monsters left and right but now… It's like they vanished with the change of the building… I don't like it. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible."

Alfred nodded he didn't want to be in the hospital more than necessary either. "Let's check in the medical storeroom." They walked into the storeroom, happy to see that there were lots of bandages, disinfectant and bottles of painkillers. "Okay, you find what we need and I'll find a bag or something to put them in."

Kiku nodded and started to select items that they would need. "Any container would be fine."

"Got it." Said Alfred. He got down on his knees and started looking for something to carry everything in. He sighed a little and rested his right hand against the floor. The texture of the tiled floor felt odd. Alfred frowned and looked down; there was a thick, black line cutting through the yellow tiles. "Dude, it looks like a cut… But I guess you would have to be pretty damn strong to make a cut in tiles right?" Kiku said nothing, but it didn't worry the American too much. Kiku was a quiet person.

He gulped a little when he spotted Kiku's reflection in the tiles. He had this crazy look in his eyes and he was pointing his katana right at Alfred. "I guess you would have to be very strong, Alfred-kun…" He whispered darkly.

Alfred gulped and quickly turned around, just in time to feel Kiku's blade run across his neck. He couldn't even scream. '_Hail…_' He thought. '_It felt like fine hail running across my skin…_' As the hot liquid oozed out of his neck he fell to the ground, looking up at the man who was once his friend.

Kiku just laughed at Alfred and raised the katana high into the air. "Goodbye Alfred-kun."

'_This isn't Kiku!_' Thought Alfred in a panic. '_It can't be! It isn't!_' As his vision began to blur Kiku brought the katana down, extinguishing all light from Alfred's vision and all life from his body.

Alfred gasped for air as he started shuddering uncontrollably. "Alfred-kun, what's wrong?" Asked Kiku in concern. "It looks like you saw a ghost."

Alfred shuddered as he ran his fingers across his neck. "I… I have no idea what happened, but it was like I died… You killed me."

Kiku looked at Alfred with shock and concern. "Alfred-kun… I would never do something like that… We have to find the others. Now."

Alfred nodded in agreement and quickly passed Kiku a plastic bag. Once they had everything they needed they quickly went upstairs to look for Matthew and Gilbert. They found the pair walking down the hall, Gilbert looked really shaken up.

"What happened to you two?" Asked Alfred.

Matthew sighed. "We think it's the work of the witches… Gilbert supposedly saw me hang myself… What about you two? You don't look too flash yourself Al."

Alfred sighed. "Yeah… I had this weird vision thingy where Kiku killed me…" He bit his lip nervously. "Do you… do you think they were glimpses of the future?"

Gilbert shook his head. "No… they seemed more like… like memories…"

"We should just leave and try to forget about what happened." Said Kiku. "Trying to figure out what's happening might just turn us insane." The others agreed and started to head back to the church. None of them notice the two witches sitting on the top of the hospital roof giggling.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… Yeah… Please review!


	4. Leather Book

**Shinigami-cat: **Damn… it's seriously difficult to come up with ideas for this… If any of you out there have an idea about what you want to happen in a chapter I'll be more than happy to try and put it in here some way… I seriously need a bit of help here, and yes I have been playing corpse party along with many other horror games to come up with creepy and freaky deaths for these people. It's just what I do, so expect to see some more corpse party related deaths… I OWN NOTHING!

**Leather Book**

Soon Alfred, Kiku, Gilbert and Matthew were back safely at the church. They were all dead quiet. Like they had seen something terrible although Gilbert and Alfred seemed the most shaken up. Kiku walked over to Yao and gave him the medical supplies to aid Feliciano and Francis before turning back to Alfred.

"What happened to you guys?" Asked Antonio.

"Something… weird." Replied Gilbert slowly, like he was trying to think of the right words. He was also sticking closer to Matthew, who didn't seem to complain.

"Perhaps they found a memory pulse, da?" Suggested Ivan with a creepy smile on his face.

Alfred frowned and sat leaned against a wall. "What's a memory pulse?"

"Something Neko said." Muttered Arthur. "Bullshit about another world where there are no monsters but you can go insane in there and if you die in that world your death gets imprinted in there like a memory. It sounds like bullshit but-"

"That's what happened." Said Gilbert. "But I saw Matthew hanging himself… How the fuck can that be a memory if he's still alive?"

"They said it changes slightly so you see the death happening with someone you know or care about." Said Ludwig. "We have to keep our guard up when we're out there. There can be no room for error." Everyone agreed. Until they could figure out a way out of this hellish nightmare they had to keep their guard up and their wits about them. This island hell was not going to win. Not against them. Not against the strong and powerful nations that they all are. No they would find a way.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

With Francis and Feliciano all bandaged up Arthur brought it upon himself to call a meeting. No one could argue that a meeting was a bad idea. They cleared some space on the floor and sat around in a circle.

Arthur was the first to speak. "If we are going to survive there are three things we truly need; food, water, shelter. The rest can wait. We already have a safe and sturdy shelter but we need food and water. There are no working faucets on site, but if we get desperate there's always toilet water."

No one was too keen to drink out of the toilet. Antonio cleared his throat. "The lagoon seems like it has sufficient water… but we'll need to boil it to make sure that there are no parasites in it. Getting some water born disease here is the last thing we need."

"Dude, do you think there's any eatable food in those houses?" Asked Alfred. Of course it was him who was concerned about food over everything else.

"There might be." Said Ludwig. "As far as Gilbert and I could tell the electricity seems to be working in most places, which is good… But if we get any meat we'll need to cook it or dry it out so it lasts longer. We can't let it spoil."

"But what are we going to do about those monsters aru?" Asked Yao with a frown. "They are quite difficult to kill and we know nothing about them at all besides what they look like and how they attack!"

That was a stumbling block. If they wanted to get around without dying they needed to have a general idea about the monsters they were dealing with. Ivan grinned happily. "Perhaps this might help." He took a leather book out of his pocket and held it up.

"What is that Ivan-san?" Asked Kiku curiously.

"I found this journal of sorts wedged in between the wall and an angel statue." Ivan said with a small chuckle. He opened the journal and started to flip through the pages. "The first six entries or so name and describe ways to kill the monsters here in the quickest possible ways. Also talks about how many in a group we will find. The rest is little entries made by various people who look like they are very close to the end. Wish to have a look England?"

Arthur frowned and took the journal. What Ivan said was true. "Bloody hell… There are so many different kinds of handwriting written in so many languages… How many people have died here?"

"Let's not think about that." Said Kiku calmly. "What are the names of the monster Arthur-san?"

Arthur cleared his throat. "Right the monsters… Bloody hell, there are a lot of them…"

_**Scream-**__ Skinny and tall in structure, they shriek right before they attack, running towards people and knocking them over. They are fast, agile and can use their scream to stun a person before they knock them over. They appear in groups of three and four. They appear in places where there is lots of blood. They are relatively weak and a few hits with a blunt object or a bullet to the head will kill them._

_**Invisibles-**__ They look like ghosts, perhaps they are ghosts. They look like mannequins covered in a clear white veil. They attack by scratching with their out stretched hands. They are almost impossible to see because they are see-through. They travel alone in wide open spaces. A blunt force object can kill them. When they die they become visible._

_**Dolls-**__ They are small porcelain dolls that look like little girls and boys. Their eyes follow you around a room and if you don't pay too much attention or mistreat them they become angry and will attack by biting, scratching and attacking with any weapons they can get their hands on. They can appear in large or small groups. They appear in rooms that have shelfs and are scattered randomly around the place in unlikely places. To kill them their skulls need to be crushed._

_**Axemen-**__ Large muscular creatures that look like rotted corpses. They move at a quick pace and carry around a large axe that they use to attack people. Their kills are long and brutal. They hang around watery places, always alone. Don't bother hitting them with a blunt object. Only bullets can kill them. If all else fails run._

_**Blobs-**__ Gigantic fat people that look like they have been stitched together. Although they are large, they are strong and will strike with their arms. They waddle around in groups of three, they appear in narrow places where you can't move forwards unless you kill them. They are only killed when they deflate like a balloon, spewing dead and rotted rats everywhere._

_**Beds-**__ Appear as a bed with two quivering shapes on them covered in a flesh coloured sheet. They attack by propelling themselves through the air and slamming into people, crushing them. They travel alone, usually appearing in small rooms. The quickest way to kill one it to shoot them, but a couple of good hits can kill them too._

_**Gassers-**__ Appear in large groups as men and women who look anorexic. They crawl along the ground surrounded by a cloud of toxic gas. They attack by latching on to someone and refusing to let go, suffocating a person to death with the toxic fumes. A long weapon like a pipe or bat can kill them along with a bullet to the head. It's best to avoid them if it can be helped._

_**Anxiety-**__ A small deformed creature that has no arms. It seems to have arms constantly moving under its skin as he breaths from its gaping mouth. It spits an acid from its mouth that irritates the skin and makes it blister. It appears in rooms rocking back and forth, seemingly gasping for air all alone. Shoot it to kill it._

_**Weeping-**__ Similar to the Scream it weeps loudly to momentarily stun someone before if runs forwards and attacks someone. When they knock someone over they attack with kicks. They are usually found in dense forest area, sometimes near water, but never near an Axeman. They can be killed easily with a blunt weapon._

_**Gobbler-**__ This creature looks similar to a gorilla in appearance but has the hands of a sloth. It travels alone, jumping off buildings and out of trees, landing on top of their victim and eats them. Once they hit the ground they are slow, if one lands close either run or shoot it. It will keep following until it's either dead or there isn't anything tall for it to climb up._

_I'm working on the theory that these creatures are something more than just monsters. I've noticed that they can be particularly brutal towards some people while they don't even attack others. Hopefully I can write this all down before I die. Maybe I'll try to write an entry about Neko and Lapin if I get the time. If I die before then and am unable to kill this thing known as The Beast, I hope this book will serve the next group of preselected sacrifices well._

_Feel free to add your own notes where you can. I know I sure as hell won't be able to fill up every page. Not if things keep going the way they are… I guess the only good thing about keeping this journal is that I found something to occupy my time besides killing and huddling in fear._

Everyone looked at each other. Almost like they were seeing how afraid everyone else way. Lovino was the first to speak. "Anyone seen a Gobbler yet?" Everyone shook their heads. They had no idea if it was a good thing or a bad thing that they hadn't seen those particular creatures. "Well that's just fucking fantastic." He muttered. "Well now that we fucking know what we're up against what are we going to do?"

"Food and water." Said Arthur. "That's what we need to get."

"Well good fucking luck." Said Lovino in a huff. "Who's going to be crazy enough to go get that stuff?"

"I can go." Said Antonio.

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Of course the tomato bastard would say that. I'll go too, but only to make sure the stupid idiot doesn't get killed."

"I'll go too." Said Francis. "All I got was a little cut. Everyone one knows that head injuries always bleed the worst."

"I'll go too." Said Ludwig. "I know the residential area pretty well."

Feliciano gulped a little. "Then I'll go too… I want to stay with Ludwig."

"You're still injured." Said Arthur calmly. "Until Yao says you can go, you stay here." Feliciano pouted a little, but he did seem slightly relaxed. Arthur cleared his throat a little. "So, Ludwig and Francis can scope out the residential area to see what food there is. We can't be picky, get whatever you can find. Lovino and Antonio will head back to the lagoon to try and find suitable drinking water. Use whatever bottles or containers you can find."

The boys nodded and started to venture out. When they were gone Arthur busied himself by reading over the book. It was very convenient that they found it… almost too convenient… But he couldn't really question it. The witches couldn't have been the ones that put the book in here. They can't enter churches. Even so… a book this helpful didn't just pop out of thin air, even if Ivan did say he could it wedged in between a pillar and a wall. Luck like this just didn't happen randomly.

Speaking of luck and other forces at work, Arthur still didn't feel an evil presence on the island at all. There just seemed to be a neutral energy surrounding the island. He got the same feeling from being on holy ground or a sacred place. Which didn't make any sense because if this really was neutral ground then there shouldn't be any evil spirits or evil creatures around. It was annoying him to no end and the book didn't seem to give much information about why that may be.

Most of the entries after the descriptions after the monster descriptions were nothing but random ramblings by half mad individuals that were trying desperately to keep their heads together. It was mildly depressing. He closed the book and sighed.

"Something wrong Arthur-san?" Asked Kiku as he sat down next to the Englishman.

"I'm just thinking about this place." He muttered. "There's something that just doesn't add up… It's really annoying… But how are Alfred and Gilbert going? They still seem a little… off."

Kiku frowned a little. "They seem to be doing okay, but Alfred-kun's been a little quieter than usual. Not even watching a horror movie would put him in such a state."

"Agreed." Said Arthur. He looked over at Alfred with concern. The American was sitting alone in a corner near the other side of the room. The vacant expression on his face was almost haunting. "Maybe I should go talk to him…"

"That may be for the best Arthur-san." Said Kiku calmly.

Arthur sighed and walked over to Alfred, sitting down next to him. "Are you doing okay Alfred?"

"That wasn't someone's memory." Alfred said in a monotone voice. "It felt too real to be some kind of weird and trippy vision. It was my memory. I died in that hospital."

Arthur frowned. "It's quite obvious that you didn't die. I mean look at you, still breathing and I'm pretty sure all two hundred and six bones are accounted for."

"But it feels like I died." Said Alfred. "It just feels like I shouldn't be alive anymore… I just feel like I should be dead."

"Don't talk like that you git." Snapped Arthur. "It's just the witches trying to get to you. You can't let them do that. That's just what they want. What happened to you wasn't real. It never happened to you."

Alfred shrugged. "Okay, so if it didn't happen to me, it still happened to someone right? Remember they said that it was the memory of someone's death. So even if it wasn't me I experienced someone else's death… I know just what they were thinking and how they felt at that moment."

Arthur frowned. "Well yeah, but-"

"I felt the blade running across my skin Arthur." Said Alfred, his eyes devoid of emotion. "I felt the blood pumping out of my neck and flowing down my shirt. I was murdered Arthur and I remember every second of it… But for some reason I don't feel scared at all… I just feel tired, like I've done this before… Over and over again like a never ending cycle…"

"Stop talking like that right now!" Snapped Arthur. "What the bloody hell happened to your super happy hero mode? I thought you of all people would be optimistic about this situation!"

"You saying I'm not the hero anymore?" Asked Alfred in mild horror. "Dude! Of course I'm still the hero! You're right, the hero has to be the optimistic one!" He grinned and did his her laugh. "Yeah, those witches are just trying to mess with me! The hero won't allow that to happen!"

Arthur smiled, happy to see that his American was back to his old self. He blushed a little. '_My American? What the bloody hell am I thinking?_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"I don't understand the rules." Said Lapin. "Please go over them again sis."

Neko rolled her eyes. "Okay one more time… rock breaks scissors, paper covers rock and scissors cut paper." This was the thirtieth time she had to go over the rules with her sister.

Lapin frowned. "Can we do something else to determine the outcome? This game confuses me…"

"Fine." Growled Neko. She took a silver coin out of her pocket. One side had a cats black head and the other had a white rabbits head. "Cats I go to the lagoon. Tails you go to the lagoon."

"But I want to go to the residential area!" Whined Lapin.

Neko face palmed. "Then why the hell are we arguing? You mess up things for France and Germany and I'll get Romano and Spain. I really hate that little fucker. How dare he swear at you like that! That fucker's going to pay with his life! I swear it!"

Lapin rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure if The Beast will let us kill people just yet…"

Neko smirked. "Oh, but I won't be killing anyone… They will be killing each other."

Lapin smiled and shook her head. "Oh Neko…" The sisters grinned and quickly parted ways. Their fun was only just starting and the nation's nightmares were only just beginning.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **So much stuff… to forever to write… Please review!


	5. Scissors

**Shinigami-cat: **Sorry it's taken so long to update! Life's just been all up and down and I had no idea where this story was going, but I know now, so have no fear… I OWN NOTHING!

**Scissors**

After a few minutes of traveling the two groups had to part ways. "Well I hope you two can get water." Said Francis happily as he tightly clutched the axe he borrowed off Alfred.

Ludwig nodded in agreement. "Ja, good luck."

"Whatever bastard." Snorted Lovino. "Just don't get yourself killed."

Antonio chuckled nervously. "Hey come one guys, let's not fight about this. We need to get food and water. We don't have time to fight."

Reluctantly the others agreed and so they split up; Francis and Ludwig heading off to the residential area and Antonio and Lovino to the lagoon. They had to keep their wits about them and their guards up.

Antonio would not let anything happen to Lovino. He had to protect him. There was no way he was going to let any monsters get to him.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

As Antonio and Lovino made their way back to the lagoon they couldn't help but notice the lack of monsters. "You think this is the warped world?" Asked Antonio. After seeing what affect that place had on the others he didn't want to go there.

Lovino shrugged. "No fucking clue… But I'm sure as fuck not going down without a fight." He looked down at the sniper he was carrying and checked over how many bullets he had again.

Antonio nodded in agreement. In a fight he knew he could take down anyone. After all he was a former pirate, Lovino on the other hand did control the Italian mafia. They had a good chance of surviving anything that came their way.

Soon they headed off the concrete path and started to walk down the dirt path they ventured up in the first place to get to the church. It was an eerie feeling, going back the way they came, but it had to be done.

Antonio shivered. '_I know I should be scared about going back here, but this is ridiculous. For once Lovino seems to be doing better than me at keeping my cool… Must be all that mafia work._'

"It's too quiet." Muttered Lovino darkly. "Not even a fucking bird. It's like all life is gone from here. It's creepy. I hate all this silence."

"Yeah." Mumbled Antonio in agreement. The silence was enough to drive anyone mad. Suddenly there was an ear splitting crack as a branch broke. The duo almost had no time to react as a Gobbler jumped out of the trees and attempted to crush them to death under its weight.

Luckily for them, the Gobbler only just missed them, giving them time to move a safe distance away. The gobbler made a noise that sounded like a mix between a roar and twisting iron. Lovino quickly shot the creature twice in the head. The Gobbler fell to its side without a noise.

"Fucking Gobbler." Hissed Lovino darkly. He walked over to the monster and kicked it in the head. The skull of the creature was surprisingly fragile and shattered on impact, much to the duo's disgust. "Shit. Now I have its brain on my shoe."

Antonio cringed a little. "Yeah… But I guess it could be worse. We could have gotten killed by that thing." He looked over his shoulder, from where they were Antonio could see the lagoon. "Come on. We're almost there."

As they walked back to the lagoon they couldn't help but remember seeing the Axeman that almost murdered them. They had thought for sure Francis was dead, but he kept on running. It was a relief and a scare all at the same time. "What can we use to collect water?" Asked Lovino. "We don't have anything, bastard… and we need enough water for everyone."

Antonio frowned. That would be a problem. "Maybe we should walk up river a little? We might be able to find a house or something." Although it seemed like a pointless endeavour they had no choice. With nothing else to do they made their way up stream.

After a few minutes they found the remains of a two story house on the edge of the river that flowed into the lagoon. In its prime, the house could have been a summer house for a well off family. But now, in its aging years it looked more like an over grown shack that was slowly getting reclaimed by the surrounding trees and grasses.

"Well… What do you think?" Asked Antonio quietly. The house seemed to scare him a little. He wasn't sure why, it just gave off a bad vibe.

Lovino looked at Antonio and rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you're scared. Are you a fucking pussy? Going to pussy out on me now bastard?"

Antonio smiled a little. "No… I just don't really like the looks of this place… I just have this feeling that this place is a place we shouldn't enter. I get the same uneasy feelings around sacred places."

"It's a house." Said Lovino. He walked over to the door and slowly pushed it open. "Besides, I don't want another one of those fucking Gobblers to jump down and fucking kill us."

"Si…" Muttered Antonio. "I guess you're right."

They walked inside the house and had a quick look around. The boards of the house seemed to be rotting through in some spaces and there were spider webs everywhere. "What a fucking dump." Muttered Lovino.

"Si. Can't argue with you there." Agreed Antonio. They started to walk around the house. There was nothing of real interest in the bathroom, bedrooms or the lounge room, but there was something interesting in the kitchen.

"Hey bastard, have a look at this." Called Lovino. In the kitchen was a pair of scissors sticking out of the door frame. They were the bright and shiny whereas everything else in the kitchen was covered in a thin layer of dry blood. Lovino was able to pull the scissors out of the wall with ease.

"Maybe you should leave them…" Muttered Antonio.

Lovino pocketed the scissors. "They might come in handy later on." He reasoned. "Besides, they're scissors. What the hell are they going to do?"

He did have a point. Antonio agreed to let Lovino keep the scissors, although he did think it was a bad idea. He just didn't know why. "Okay Lovino… Are there any places we haven't looked yet?"

"The basement and the attic." Said Lovino.

"We should probably split up…" Muttered Antonio. "We'll cover more ground that way and hopefully find something to carry water."

Lovino frowned. He didn't seem to like that idea that much, but he knew it would be quicker. "Okay bastard… I'll take the attic and you take the basement. Yell if you need anything."

With that sorted they walked off; Antonio to the basement and Lovino to the attic. The basement wasn't too bad. A little dusty but okay. There were boxes everywhere and an empty plastic barrel. He grinned and walked over to it. He could easily fill it with water and roll it back to the church. The water crisis was averted.

"Freaking barrels. They ruin everything." Hissed Neko. Antonio jumped and quickly turned to face the girl, pointing his machete right at her. Neko was sitting on top of a pile of boxes with a frown on her face. "Barrels make things to easy."

"What the hell are you doing here witch?" Spat Antonio. Anger and hatred were burning in his eyes with a fiery passion.

Neko smirked. "You're in my world now Spain… and in my world I say you've done something terribly, horribly wrong and you need to suffer for it."

Antonio growled, gripping his machete tightly. "Suffer? You girls have killed countless people and for what? Why do you two do this?"

"Why?" Asked Neko in disbelief. "You ask us why? You have no idea why you must suffer here and for that you must suffer even more for you ignorance!" She waved her hand, ripping the machete right out of Antonio's hand. "Because you've been blinded by your stupidity you yourself must suffer a fate of darkness."

The door slammed shut, locking and Antonio was plunged into darkness. Neko laughed wildly as the Spaniard stumbled around aimlessly in the darkness. He couldn't see anything at all, but slowly his hearing heightened slightly to compensate for his lack of sight. '_I'm okay…_' He thought. '_I just need to keep calm… That's all I need to do…_' The sound of a metallic click filled the air. '_Huh? What's that noise?_'

Antonio shivered, he couldn't see anything in front of his face, but he could hear the sound… It reminded him of scissors. Snip, snip, snip. Getting closer and closer. Snip, snip, snip. His heart started to race. "Stop it." He whispered. "Just stop it! I'm sorry okay! I have no idea what I've done to you so just stop it already!"

The sound of the scissors stopped and everything was quiet again. But then he heard a voice. "Give it back." It whispered in almost a growl. "Give it back." The lights flickered on, showing the figure holding the scissors. Lovino was standing in the doorway; blood was dripping from his empty left socket where is eye used to be. He was clutching a pair of scissors in his right hand, glaring at Antonio with his right eye. "Give it back."

Antonio was frozen in fear. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak. '_Lovino? What happened to you? You were just behind me!_'

Slowly Lovino stumbled towards the Spaniard still chanting. "Give it back. Give it back. Give it back… Give me back my eye." He pointed the scissors towards Antonio's face, the blades are dull and caked with fresh blood.

Antonio started shaking. '_No… This can't… I can't move…_'

"GIVE IT TO ME!" Screamed Lovino. Antonio's left eye offered little resistance as the jagged blood-soaked blade was plunged deep within. Antonio screamed in agony and begged for Lovino to stop, but he didn't. "GIVE IT BACK TO ME!" He screamed over and over again, even as Antonio fell to the ground. "GIVE ME BACK MY LEFT EYE! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK!"

Antonio's vision ran red as waves of unbearable agony triggered unconscious screams of primal, nearly animalistic torment. When Lovino stopped stabbing him and embedded the blades deep within his socket Antonio instinctively reached up to try and pull the scissors out, but just the lightest touch caused new jolts of tortuous misery to flow through his body.

He screamed in agony and fear as he felt the foreign object scraping against his cranium. It echoed through his mind mercilessly, not from his eardrums but directly into his brain. No other experience could possibly prepare him for this. It was like all the suffering of the world coalesced into a single moment.

The pain grew exponentially worse with each heartbeat, yet the trauma of the experience made his heart beat faster, creating an endless cycle. It wasn't something he could adapt to. It's not something he could ignore. All he could do was thank heaven above that when he finally died… The pain will end.

Lovino grabbed the scissors again and shove them through Antonio's now liquefied eye and into the soft tissue of his brain. "Give it back." He whispered. "Give me back my eye."

Everything faded into black before everything became all too clear again. Antonio was on his knees, shaking horribly and clutching his left eye. "What the hell?" He whimpered. "What the hell just happened to me?" His eye still stung a little, but the sensation was slowly wearing off.

Suddenly Lovino kicked open the door, he looked like he had seen a ghost. "You stupid fucking bastard!" He yelled as he ran over to Antonio. "What the fuck was all that screaming about? It sounded like you were getting murdered! What's wrong with your eye?"

Antonio gulped and slowly looked up at Lovino. "Nothing… Do you still have those scissors?"

Lovino nodded. "Yeah?"

"Throw them away." Said Antonio. "Throw them away now! Just pick them up and throw them as far away as possible. Better yet, throw them in the lagoon. Don't ask me about it, just do it now."

Lovino raised an eyebrow. "Why? Did you touch a memory pulse? What the fuck happened? Fucking tell me Antonio!"

Antonio nervously bit his lip. "It was dark… and I could hear scissors… Then the lights went on and you were holding the scissors… You were missing an eye and screaming at me to give it back… Then you stabbed me repeatedly in the eye…"

"What?" Asked Lovino in shock. "It's… it's just the work of those fucking bitches. Just forget about it. They only want to make you crazy…and you're already crazy enough, tomato bastard."

Antonio nodded and hugged Lovino tightly. "I know… But it was so scary… Please promise me you'll throw those scissors into the lagoon as soon as we get there."

Lovino blushed a bit at their close contact but never the less nodded. "Okay bastard… I promise."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yep I'm ending it here! Mwahahaha! Please review!


	6. Food

**Shinigami-cat: **I'm so sorry this is taking so freaking long to write! This is just one of those stories that's a little difficult to write but is better when you get into it… Once again so sorry for the late update… I OWN NOTHING!

**Food**

It was eerily quiet in the residential area. A lesser man could have gone crazy at the lack of noise, but then again most men hadn't lived through countless wars like the two men walking down the street.

Ever since they had stepped foot outside the church Ludwig had done his best to keep his mind sharp and clear of distracting thoughts. This place was dangerous and they could get ambushed at any moment. It was at this time that Francis chose to break the silence.

"Quite scary isn't it? To think that any second a creature could try and attack us." He mused out loud to himself.

"We need to keep quiet." Said Ludwig. He didn't feel like being murdered for the amusement of the witches.

Francis shrugged a little. "I know… But before, that description of the Gassers… I just reminded me of-"

"The Holocaust." Muttered the German with a hint of venom in his voice. "As much as I'd hate to admit it, I thought so too… It's like those witches pulled the image right out of my mind."

"Maybe they did." Said France. "Who knows how long they have been here, pulling people into this nightmare… I know everything looks modern in a sense, but it's just… I don't know."

Ludwig nodded in understanding. "Ja, almost seems like one of America's horror games with all the monsters… but it also seems like one of Japan's games with the sudden lack of monsters."

Francis chuckled. "What an odd way to put it, but I see your point. It's like we're living in a horror survival game."

"And just like a horror survival game there's going to be a crappy, ironic and twisted ending." Said Ludwig sarcastically. He personally didn't like America's or Japan's horror games. America's ones were too heavy on weapons and monsters and Japan's ones didn't seem to have enough of either and instead concentrated on the psychological torment of being in a life or death situation. Though he couldn't really say the horror games in his country were much better, they usually contained ridiculously large amounts of gore.

He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about games. This was real life, and in real life there were no second chances, sure they were countries and could get hurt and even die, it was only for a short amount of time, a month at the most. But the way those witches talked, it was as if they knew there was no coming back when they died.

"We need to find food." He muttered coldly. "That's all that matters now. We can't afford to think about stupid things like games."

Francis shrugged and looked down at his weapon, a buck knife. "Should have borrowed someone else's… I can only attack if they're close."

"Are you bad at hand to hand combat?" Asked Ludwig in concern. He and France were never really close as friends or anything close, but they had to stick together if they wanted to survive in this place.

"I'm okay." Said France a little too casually. "I mean, I'm no Navy Seal, but I can put up a fight when I have to. I'm not just a pretty face."

Ludwig rolled his eyes. Suddenly out of the corner of his eye he saw a cloud of green gas starting to rise behind a hedge. '_Shit. A Gasser._' He stopped walking, gestured to Francis to keep quiet and pointed over towards the cloud.

Francis looked over at the cloud, then back to Ludwig, as if asking him what to do. Ludwig just raised his hand gun, waiting to see the creature emerge. After a few seconds the creature crawled out and Ludwig shot it. There was a sickening crack as the Gasser's head hit the ground.

When it was dead Ludwig grabbed Francis by the arm and started to pull him down the street, closer to the houses. "More of them will be coming soon."

Sure enough more of the disgusting, corpse-like creatures started to emerge from their hiding places, dragging themselves towards the duo. "… You don't have enough ammo to kill them all do you?" Asked Francis nervously.

Ludwig shook his head. "No… but I have an idea, go into a house and try for find some matches or something. They aren't too fast so they won't catch up for a while."

Francis rolled his eyes and took a lighter out of his pocket. Ludwig gave the Frenchman a questioning look, but said Frenchman brushed it off. "Never know when a pretty young thing might need a lighter."

Ludwig rolled his eyes and took the lighter from Francis. "Does this have any sentimental value?" Francis shook his head. "Good." He lit it and threw it at the Gassers. There was a huge explosion as the gas emitted from the creature's mouths caught fire and exploded.

"… How did you know that would work?" Asked Francis.

Ludwig shrugged. "I didn't. I just guessed."

"Good guess… Kind of dumb how they breathe flammable gas."

"I suppose… Let's just go into a house and find food."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After a few minutes they had picked a house that looked relatively normal and went inside. There were no photos hanging on the walls. No books on the shelves. Nothing to show that there was once a human inhabiting the building, that is, except for what was in the kitchen. The cupboards were killed with cereals, nuts and other foods that wouldn't spoil quickly and there were cheeses and some meats that could be easily dried.

"We need to find something to carry this all." Said Francis.

Ludwig nodded and gave Francis his gun. "Give me your knife. You'll be safer with a gun."

Francis handed Ludwig his knife and took the gun. "Okay, but what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to look for some back packs." Said Ludwig calmly. With the knife in hand he walked up to the second floor of the house. Up here was a contrast to the emptiness of all downstairs. It had an odd vibe behind it all. Way more happy then downstairs or anywhere else than on the island for that matter. It worried him.

He looked into a few rooms, looking for a bag or something, the first room had little to nothing in it but the second room was quite surprising. It was covered in pink, frilly things. It was like he had stepped into a little girl's bedroom, and the thing was it was probably true.

The only thing seemingly out of place in the small room was a black backpack. Ludwig walked over to it and opened it. There was nothing inside it apart from some empty lolly wrappers. With any lock they might be able to find another similar backpack in the house. So he picked it up and turned to leave the room, accidently knocked a book off the bedside table in the process.

Ludwig frowned a little as he picked the diary off the floor. It was crudely written, probably by a child. He was about to put it down when he noticed something disturbing drawn in the corner of the open page. It was a bloody severed head of a female with an arrow pointing to it labelled, me. Curiosity got the better of him and he started to read over the words in on the open page.

_I… I can't take it anymore. My wounds aren't closing up anymore. Even if I try to kill myself I can't die a painless death. I don't want to die, I honestly don't… But it doesn't seem to matter to them. _

_I've done nothing but love them since I was born. Yet they still hurt me. I'm constantly smothered by those smells that make my eyes itch and my lungs ach. They cut me, but I don't think they know about that, but they're small like paper cuts so I say nothing. My nails are starting to fall out. It hurts to write._

_I don't know what I did to deserve this. Am I a bad girl? _

_I just want a friend. I want someone to understand me and what I'm going through. I want them to help me make the people that hurt me pay for what they did to me. Even as I'm writing I can feel fluid filling my lungs again. Do they like seeing me in pain?_

_Until this pain ends I'll be stuck in this painful nightmare… I want to drag someone else into my nightmare. As many people as possible. They need, no, must feel my pain. Even if they wake up from their nightmare and remember me and try to repair me it's all pointless. Repair, destroy, repair, destroy, to the point where even you forget its original shape._

_What colour were my eyes? Green, blue, brown, black, red, purple, amber? I can't remember. It's almost impossible to see and write anymore. What colour was my skin? White, tan, black, olive? It's impossible to tell anymore. My skin feasters under white bandages and bruise purple. What colour was my hair? Brown, blond, black, red? It's falling out in clumps. I can't even remember if it was short or long. I can't even speak. Talking hurt so much that my vocal cords snapped, like elastic bands. I can only make these strained growling, gasping noises now. _

_I don't even know if anyone can read this, but it helps me to vent here. I feel less angry at my situation this way, but I still hate the people that did this to me. Everything that's happened to me, this never ending nightmare must be shared by others._

_It hurts. It hurts. It hurts._

Ludwig frowned. Whoever this girl was she must have been very sick. '_I wonder what happened to her._' He thought. '_Did she come to this island and get killed or was this book here before this island became like this?_' He was about to put the book down and leave when he saw the drawing on the back of the book.

It was a crude drawing of three girls; the girl on the right was in a white dress and had rabbit ears, the girl of the left was in a black dress and had cat ears, finally the girl in the middle was in a red dress with bandages all over her body. Was it possible that the sick girl was connected to Lapin and Neko? He would have to examine the book further. But not here. He put the diary into his pocket and went to find Francis.

But as soon as he stepped out into the hall he heard the sound of children's footsteps, getting closer and closer. Ludwig stepped back into the room and quickly jumped into the wardrobe. He wasn't sure what was there, but he didn't really feel like taking them down with a knife.

The bedroom door opened up and Lapin walked into the room followed by Neko. "You're a fucking idiot." Said Neko.

"I know! I know!" Whined Lapin as she started looking around the place. "Just help me find it!"

Neko laughed. "Help you find the diary? You're the idiot that lost it! Are you sure you left it here and not the hospital or the school?"

Ludwig gulped a little and put his hand into his pocket, tapping the spin of the diary. '_This must be important to them. Why else would they be looking for it?_'

Lapin made a small whining noise as she looked under the bed. "I don't know! Don't you have an Spaniard and an Italian to murder?"

"I'll do that later." Said Neko with a grin. "Seeing you screw up is much more fun… Besides I already made Spain think Romano stabbed him repeatedly in the eye with the scissors. A classic death. One of my top ten."

Lapin rolled her eyes. "I don't see how someone getting murdered by a friend or a loved one can be amusing… At least when it comes to a monster there can be some self-sacrifice involved and dying a noble death. Better to go down fighting, as they say."

Neko pouted. "But no one ever suspects a loved one to kill them you genius. Death by loved one is scarier and scars the mind because it's so unexpected. That's why I love it so."

"You're weird." Said Lapin. She looked around the room again and sighed sadly. "I guess we could check the hospital basement again… Or the school…"

"That's the spirit." Said Neko with a smug grin. "And if you fuck up, give The Beast your arm to eat… What's the time?"

"Time for you to do your job." Snapped Lapin. "If you think I'm bad at my job why isn't at least one of those two at the boat house dead yet? Answer me that!"

"Give me a minute or two." Said Neko with a lazy grin. "Just need to lull them into a false sense of security then… Bam! One by one they bite the dust! Kick the bucket and begin to rust! Give up the ghost when their number's up, they all fall down! Ashes to ashes, bones to paste. They'll wither away in their resting place! Eternity in a wooden case! They all fall down!"

"… Why did I introduce you to the wonders of YouTube and iTunes again?" Asked Lapin to herself.

"To stop me from stealing your collection of eyeballs and using them as squirrel bait." Said Neko knowingly. "Now I max out the internet in a matter of days." She grabbed Lapin's arm and dragged her out of the room. "Let's go! I need you help making a couple of Axemen."

Lapin reluctantly sighed and followed her sister out of the room. "Sure you don't want a cute little Doll instead?"

That was the last thing Ludwig heard as the two exited the room. A shudder ran through his body from the chilling conversation he had heard. They were going to kill Antonio and Lovino. '_Shit._'

He got out of the wardrobe and walked down the stairs again, on the last step he looked back up only to be met with the blazing eyes of Lapin. She smiled sweetly, as if she had read his thoughts. "There's no point in trying to save them. Every last one of you is going to die a horrible and painful death."

Ludwig looked at the girl and growled. "Then why not just kill us all on sight instead of this stupid game? It seems a little pointless to gather so many people then just kill them off one by one."

"It's more fun that way." Said Lapin happily. "Now go on, France is waiting for you to get back to him." With that the little witch spun around in a circle and vanished into thin air.

Ludwig frowned and returned back to the kitchen where Francis was. He had found some plastic bags and had put a lot of the lighter foods in them. "What took you so long?" He asked.

Ludwig shook his head and walked over to the fridge, ready to put meat into it. "Nothing… But I found a diary written by a little girl. She talked about being in constant pain and wanting to have others to feel her pain… There was also a drawing of the two witches and the little girl on the back of the diary. I'll show you when we get back to the church."

Francis nodded. "Okay. Here's your gun." He handed the gun to Ludwig and in turn Ludwig gave him back the knife.

"We need to get to Antonio and Lovino as soon as possible." He muttered.

"Why?"

"The witches are going to murder them."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah… Please review?


	7. Silence

**Shinigami-cat: **So… wonder how people are going to die in this chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Silence**

Ludwig and Francis moved quickly back to the church, from their they would be able to find their way to the lagoon and hopefully save Antonio and Lovino from their impending doom. When they were close to leaving the residential area there was an earthquake. It shook the ground with such force both nations fell over and the ground split between them, leaving an impossibly large gap too far to jump and impossible to see how wide it was. It was like the island had split in two.

"Damn it." Hissed Ludwig. "Are you okay Francis?"

Francis nodded as he slowly sat up, rubbing the side of his head. "Yeah… I think so…" He looked over at Ludwig and frowned. They were on opposite sides of the crevasse. "Looks like we're on our own from here on in…"

"Shit." Muttered Ludwig. "Maybe I can find something to make a bridge. Then you can get across."

"There's no time for that." Said Francis. He threw the plastic bags he was carrying at Ludwig. "Take these back to the church. I can find the lagoon from here. Just tell them that we might need a medical assistance when we get back."

Ludwig frowned. "Are you sure? I mean, you yourself aren't really…"

Francis rolled his eyes. "Just because I'm not the best at fighting you assume that I won't be able to help them out? You have no faith in me at all! It's more important that the food gets back to them anyway. Now go! I won't have you argue with me over this Germany."

"… If you're sure." Muttered Ludwig.

"I'm very sure." Said Francis with a nod. "Now get back there and don't die along the way."

"Same goes for you." Said Ludwig as he gathered the plastic bags.

Francis smiled and waved farewell to Ludwig before he started to walk along the edge of the gaping hole. He could defend himself and others if the time called for it. He wasn't just a pretty face. Didn't he fight England back in the day? Wasn't he a fighter? Wasn't he a country that had many a bloody battle? These days it was always easy to forget about those past events. People didn't seem to look past World War two or one for that matter.

He shook his head and kept walking. If he kept walking along the edge he would walk into the forest area close to where Antonio, Lovino and he had exited in the first place. As he walked along the edge it started to get smaller and smaller. That was good. It meant that eventually he could go back to the church.

Soon he found the lagoon but couldn't see Lovino or Antonio anywhere. It was frustrating. "Where the hell are those two?" Remembering that they had nothing to carry water in he assumed they went to look for something that would do the job.

So he decided to walk upstream to see if he could find him. On his way he happened to pass a small cave, it just looked like a crack in the wall. One couldn't see it unless they were really looking for it, but he saw it straight away.

He couldn't help by be drawn to the cave. Cautiously he walked into it; water was dripping of stalactites and onto stalagmites below. It was grungy and dank, but Francis couldn't help but be drawn deeper into the cave.

The damp smell of decay was thick, but it didn't matter too much to Francis. He wanted to keep walking deeper. It was like he was being drawn to a magnet. Eventually he came to a small, natural stone basin. He could see a small piece of old, yellow parchment sticking out from in between the stone.

Francis crouched down and looked at the parchment. It seemed old. Really old. Careful so as not to rip it, he pulled it out. It cracked a little under his fingers but it didn't matter. He unfolded the note, it was written in blood. Dried blood turned brown over the years.

_It's too late for me now. I was injured pretty badly, but I refuse to let those witches take away my body… From what I've heard them say when they dragged away the others I think they are eating us, or feeding us to The Beast. One of my friends once told me if you die a tragic death your soul can haunt the place where you died for years as long as part of your body is still there._

_I'm going to cut off my finger and hide it in the cave. If I do that then when I die I can try to protect others that have shared my fate of being trapped here. I've chosen to cut off my left middle finger. By doing that I'll leave behind my favourite ring too. An emerald that reminds me of my close friend…_

_If you are reading this note, I have left my finger under a loose stone in the bottom of the rock basin. Maybe it's still fresh or become bone, but perhaps it has turned to dust leaving behind my ring? I will never know. Please don't take my ring if you find it. It's the only part of me that has been given a proper funeral._

Francis read over the letter again and gulped a little. His eyes travelled back to the rock basin. He couldn't see a single loose stone anywhere, but since the note was written years ago it probably wouldn't be obvious. He knew he should just leave the cave and keep looking for Antonio and Lovino, but he was drawn to the basin. He wanted to find that ring.

He crouched down and started to press and tap against the edges of the stone, trying to find a loose one. Eventually he found it and lifted it up. Under the rock was fragile, discoloured finger bones and laced around them was a gold banded ring with an emerald embedded in the band.

Against his better judgement Francis picked up the ring and had a better look at it. "… Very old, late sixteenth early seventeenth century perhaps? The emerald is very beautiful though, kind of like…" Reality came crashing down on Francis like a ton of bricks. "No… it isn't possible… How could it be?" He quickly picked up the paper and read over it again. "But it is… This island… These witches… The Beast… Oh no… This is bad. Really bad."

The sudden sound of something shuffling behind him made the Frenchman look up and gasp. There was a shadow of a tall man holding an axe high above his head.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Antonio and Lovino walked out of the house, pushing an empty barrel. After the strange episode Antonio had where he imagined that Lovino had stabbed in to death with a pair of scissors he just seemed more quiet and distant. It was pissing Lovino off.

"I'm not going to fucking hurt you!" Snapped Lovino in frustration. "Why the fuck would I kill you anyway?"

"I don't know." Muttered Antonio. "Just throw those scissors into the lagoon when we get there."

Lovino shook his head. He didn't understand why Antonio was so hell bent on getting rid of the scissors. They could be very useful. With them they could do a number of things. For one they could cut string and rope with them. They were really sharp.

As they walked down the river Lovino kept pondering this, but suddenly Antonio stopped walking causing Lovino to walk into him. "Watch it, tomato bastard!"

"Quiet." Hissed Antonio. He took hold of his machete and pointed towards a tall figure holding a battle axe. The creature was slowly lumbering towards them, getting faster and faster.

Lovino gulped and raised his gun, ready to shoot the bastard in the face. But the thing was too fast and Lovino's hands were shaking. It was different from when he had shot that Gobbler before. This thing looked more human.

Antonio kicked the barrel forwards, sending it crashing into the creature's shins, causing it to stumble forwards and send it off balance. While its defences were down Antonio leapt forwards and slammed his machete into the creature's shoulder.

Dark red, almost black blood squirted out of the wound and although it didn't seem to hurt the monster in the slightest it did make it madder. It growled and took a swing at Antonio, but the Spaniard easily dodged it and managed to deflect an attack. Lovino hadn't seen Antonio move so quickly in years. The only time the Spaniard ever came close to this level of movement was back in his pirate years.

'_What the fuck am I thinking? I need to help him!_' Thought Lovino. He quickly aimed the gun at the creature's head and pulled the trigger. It didn't work. There was something jamming the barrel.

"SHIT!" Screamed Lovino in frustration. He hit the side of the gun a few times, trying frantically to fix the problem.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Yelled Antonio. He managed to stab the creature in the guts, sending more blackish red blood everywhere. But the Axeman still didn't fall. It just became more aggressive.

"I'm not going to fucking leave!" Snapped Lovino. "I can do this! Just give me two fucking seconds!"

"I CAN'T PROTECT BOTH OF US!" Screamed Antonio. "GET BACK TO THE CHURCH! I'LL CATCH UP!" He jumped out of the way as the way as the monster slammed its axe down into the ground, shattering any and all rocks in the way.

Lovino gulped and stood there. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to stay and help Antonio, but he was useless without his gun. '_Shit, shit, shit. It's not fucking fair damn it!_'

"RUN!" Screamed Antonio as he deflected another attack from the Axeman. "JUST GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! GET BACK TO THE CHURCH!"

Lovino dropped the broken gun and ran. He was scared, deathly scared. He didn't want to Antonio to die, but he didn't want to die either. He ran further and further into the trees, away from Antonio and the Axemen, not really knowing where he was going.

Eventually he tripped over and crashed into the ground. He groaned in pain and slowly got to his knees. "Shit." He hissed in pain. There was blood collecting in small beads on the palms of his hands. "Fuck… Why did I fucking run. Shit… Antonio… Fuck!"

He gripped his hair and whimpered in frustration. Everything, everything was just so frustrating and hopeless. It was all just insane. He wanted to hurt something. He picked up a rock and threw it at a tree. The rock made no sound when it hit the bark.

"… What?" Muttered Lovino. He slowly stood up, noticing the lack of crunch under his feet from the sticks, dried leaves and gravel. "What? What happened to the… the sound? Where is the sound?"

His eyes darted around the place as fast as they could. It was like he had been thrown into a silent movie. Adrenaline was still pumping through his veins and panic was setting in fast. Everything was silent. The only thing he could hear was his own voice. Everything else was mute to him. This was bad. If a monster was coming up behind him he wouldn't be able to stop it in time.

He fell to his knees and clutched the sides of his head. "Fuck… Fucking witches! I know it's you doing this to me! Just fucking stop it! Just fucking stop it right now you cunts! Say something! Someone just fucking say something!"

He knew it was useless to work himself up into a panic but he couldn't help it. Lovino just felt so helpless in this situation. He saw a raven land in a tree. Open its mouth and caw, but he could hear any of it. The fear, he couldn't take it anymore. It was all too much.

All the silence, it was driving Lovino mad. "Someone! Just say something! I'm going insane! I can't take it! I just can't take it!"

His hands started to tremble and dug his hands into his pockets. His fingers wrapped tightly around the scissors and pulled them out. His mouth slowly opening as he opened the scissors and slowly raised them to his lips, as if he was going to swallow them whole.

'_I… I can't stop myself…_' He thought in a panic. '_Why? Why can't I stop myself?_' He could hear and feel the clank of the scissors as they hit his molars. '_Wait! Stop! I can't keep doing this! If I do I'll… I'll… NO STOP! STOP THIS!_'

"AAAAUUUUUUUUGGGH!" Cried Lovino as he shoved the scissors into the back of his throat, they pierced through the back of his neck and he slammed them shut, cutting through his spine. He fell to the ground, dead.

The raven cawed and took flight, the sound of its beating wings filling the air as it disappeared into the clouds above.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The Axeman fell to the ground dead. The victor, Antonio, stood over the corpse panting heavily. It took a lot of energy to destroy that thing. He was just lucky that he didn't get massacred by it. He picked up the axe, shaking off the lifeless hand that was still clinging to it. He preferred an axe to his machete.

He liked the weight and feel of it in general. It made him remember his pirate days. He shook his head. "What am I thinking? I need to find Lovino… Shit, why did I tell him to run without a weapon?"

He looked around the surrounding foliage, trying to remember the way that Lovino ran. The sound of a crow crying out made Antonio jump and look to the sky. A crow was flying overhead. In the old days, crows were considered bad omen. Signalling death. A murder of crows. Groups would feast on the rotting flesh of the dead for food.

He shook his head. "No… It's not like Lovino's dead. I was just talking to him… We need to get out of here. This place… It's enough to drive anyone mad."

"HURRY THE FUCK UP!" Screamed a shrill voice. Antonio recognised that voice. It was Neko. He quickly ducked behind a tree and peered out from behind it. Neko was standing out in the open with her arms crossed while Lapin was slowly following, dragging something.

"Neko!" Whined Lapin. "Why do I have to do all the heavy lifting? It's not fair!"

Neko laughed. "Nothing's fair in this world sis, you of all people should know that." She turned and started to walk away. "Now for tonight I'm thinking it'll be a nice tomato soup, meatballs and a strong Italian wine…"

Lapin rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, I have to cut up the meat don't I?"

"But of course." Said Neko. "You need to get used to butchering the meat and using the meat grinder. The Beast even said the same thing."

Antonio frowned. '_What are they talking about? Why are they talking about food at a time like this? What is Lain dragging?_'

Lapin sighed and dropped whatever she was dragging. "I refuse to drag this carcass any further! You have to help me!"

Neko rolled her eyes and walked over to her sister. "Fine… His eyes freak me out. You think the beat would be pissed if I ripped them out?"

"The Beast likes eyes." Said Lapin in a warning tone. She crouched down and grabbed the legs of whatever she was carrying and motioned for her sister to help her. "Why did you have to make this one go insane anyway?"

Neko smirked sadistically. "Don't you remember? I told Romano I would curse him as soon as he set one foot outside that church. It's only fitting that he committed suicide."

Antonio's body started to tremble. They had to be joking, there was no way that Lovino had committed suicide so quickly and without showing any signs of suicidal tendencies. He was afraid, but he looked out a little more from his hiding spot and looked at the corpse they were carrying. Lovino's terrified, dead eyes glared at him. The handles of the scissors were sticking out of his mouth as they were imbedded deep within his throat. From all the blood running out of the back of his neck, Antonio could guess that they had gone straight out the other side of his neck.

A plethora of emotions were beginning to swirl around in his mind, the main focus being rage and pain. He hated those witches and wanted to see them burn in hell for everything that they had done and were planning to do. He gripped the axe tightly in his hands and moved out of his hiding spot.

"You bitches." He growled. "How dare you. How fucking dare you do that to Lovino."

Neko and Lapin didn't even flinch. They just looked at the crazed man in front of them and smiled. "So, want to get out of our way?" Asked Neko. "We're kind of in a hurry. Meat does spoil if left out in the open for too long."

"Neko, it's not wise to intimidate him." Whispered Lapin sarcastically. "He has an axe."

Antonio raised his axe into the air and charged at them. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Neko rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. In an instant she, Lapin and Lovino's body were gone. Antonio growled darkly. "WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO? GIVE ME BAACK LOVINO! GIVE HIM BACK NOW!"

No matter how much he yelled or screamed at the trees he got no reply. The witches were long gone with Lovino's body, with the sick intention to eat him for food. These witches, though human in appearance there was no way that they could have ever been mortal. They were too disturbed and twisted to be considered as such. Antonio would have his revenge.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Okay… Now I don't know about you, but the only thing I really care about is what Francis found out. I mean seriously, he sounded like he was on to something important! Please review!


	8. Damned

**Shinigami-cat: **So… Lovino's definitely dead, but is Francis? Think about it. There are some disturbing scenes ahead so sorry about that … I OWN NOTHING!

**Damned**

Antonio was furious. There was no other words to describe the rage he was feeling inside. Those monsters just picked up his body and walked away with him like he was garbage, and the way they talked about his body like they were going to eat him… That just sent him into a fit of rage not seen since his pirate days.

"Where the hell are you two?" He hissed darkly. He would swing his axe at the slightest noise, cutting down any tree in his way. He wanted to hurt something. He wanted to make something bleed over what happened to Lovino.

The sound of trees rustling made him quickly turn and swing his axe at the noise, almost killing Francis. "Eep! It's me! Where's Lovino?" He asked.

Antonio clenched his teeth, breathing heavily. "Lovino… Those cunts killed him."

Francis frowned and nodded. "Oh… I'm sorry… If I'd have gotten here sooner… We should get back to the church."

Antonio nodded. "Si… But we still need to get some water. I didn't get time to…"

With some difficulty the pair made their way back to the decapitated Axeman and retrieved the plastic barrel. From there they walked to the lagoon and filled it back up before walking back to the church, rolling it along as they went.

"Where's Ludwig?" Asked Antonio.

"He's back at the church." Muttered Francis. "There was an earthquake and we ended up on different sides. He took the food back and I went out here to find you… I remember passing a cave, then everything went foggy before I heard you muttering again… If you don't mind me asking, how did Lovino…"

"I'll tell you when we get back." Muttered Antonio darkly. He still had hatred burning in his chest. He needed to let it out. He wanted to see, no, needed to see something bleed. Antonio glanced over at Francis but quickly rid his mind of those dark thoughts. Francis was his friend. He would have to wait until he found another monster or those witches for the raging beast within to be satisfied.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Ludwig got back to the church with ease, but the news he brought with him worried everyone. Antonio was a good guy and got along with everyone and even though Lovino was a dick most of the time he was helpful when he needed to be. Arthur didn't like this. He didn't like this at all.

'_An earthquake? Why didn't we feel it here?_' He hated this all. There was just something he couldn't put his finger on. Something important. '_What the hell am I missing? There has to be something damn it!_'

"There's also this book." Said Ludwig. He took a pink diary out of his pocket and handed it over to Arthur. "I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the witches… I think they're connected to a little girl or something."

While the group chatted amongst themselves about what to do and the safety of the others Arthur started to look through the book. This was definitely something powerful. He could feel a strong negative energy coming off it. Most people would feel it as something cold, but Arthur could feel hatred seeping out of the pages. He didn't want to hold it for too long.

"You okay there Iggy?" Asked Alfred. He sat down next to Arthur, smiling a little. "Anything interesting in there?"

Arthur shrugged. "There's lots of darkness coming from it… It's like all the rage and anger of whoever was writing this has been manifested inside it… But at the same time it doesn't feel like an evil book. It's just like a bible or some other holy book. There's too much neutral energy for someone to say what's in here is truly evil."

"Dude, what the hell?" Whined Alfred. "You're saying weird stuff again. This magic stuff still sound like bull shit to me."

"But you can't deny it isn't real." Said Arthur. If Alfred denied the existence of magic at this point he was dumber than he thought.

Alfred pouted. "I'm not saying it isn't real, I'm just saying it's hard for me to understand… Any entries in there?"

Arthur frowned and opened up the book. There were several drawings of the witches, Lapin and Neko, killing people with knives and creatures that looked a little like dogs. They ranged from childish to graphic in nature. There were more pictures later on of a girl in a red dress being violently beaten and tortured.

As the pictures of the girl in red got more violent the pages became covered in blood. Soon the pages became to congealed with dried blood to open up the pages properly. He skipped a few of those pages until he opened up to some written words.

_It hurts. My body is rotting, but no one sees it happening. They do nothing. Help me… Please… I need help. Why won't….. So…. H…. u… he….. I want….._

The rest of the page was covered in too much blood to read properly. It was unnerving to read such things in the writings of a small child. It made Arthur's skin crawl. "I don't like this…" He muttered. "I don't like this at all." He turned to another page.

_Kill them… Kill them all… One death is not enough… Bring me more… Bring me more… More… More… MORE! MORE! I WANT MORE! MORE! MORE! I WANT MORE TO DIE! MORE! MORE! KILL MORE! MORE! MORE MUST DIE! MORE! MORE! I NEED MORE! MORE! MORE! KILL MORE! DIE! ALL OF YOU MUST DIE! KILL MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! I MUST HAVE MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE!_

The rest of the page was covered in the word 'more' so extensively that the page was coloured out with the blue crayon that was used to write it. Instead of reading each page one at a time he decided to flip back to the last page and read it.

_WHO ARE YOU? WHY DID YOU STEAL MY DIARY? WHY ARE YOU READING IT? I CURSE YOU AND EVERYONE AROUND YOU! ONLY LAPIN AND NEKO CAN READ MY DIARY! I CURSE YOU ALL TO DIE!_

Arthur dropped the book like it was made of fire. "What the hell?" He cried. "What the hell is this?"

Alfred frowned and picked up the book. "What are you freaking out about? It's just another picture, see?" He showed Arthur the last page again, it was of the girl in red, she was sitting down smiling and covered in bandages. The writing was nowhere to be seen.

Arthur gulped and took the book back. He stared at the picture critically, she seemed to be mocking him with her smile. '_But… the words… There were words right here! Where did they go? Are you mocking me child? I don't know who you are, but you can't curse me. I'm England for crying out loud! My black magic is a million times stronger than anything you could comprehend. Make your move child. Make your move._'

Suddenly the door opened and Antonio and Francis walked in. The solemn expressions of their faces were enough to tell them all what happened to Lovino. Feliciano burst out crying and curled up on his spot on the floor. "Fratello…" He wept. "W-why did you have to die?"

Ludwig tried to comfort the smaller man, but he shoved Ludwig away, screaming that he wanted to be left alone. It was understandable.

The church grew silent. Ivan was the first to speak. "What now? We have food and water, but we still need to get rid of these witches and get off this island, da? Oh, we also need to kill this beast."

Yao nodded in agreement. "Yeah…"

Antonio growled. "Lovino just died! Can't you give us time to mourn? If you saw him… Fuck you."

"Calm down Antonio." Cooed Francis softly. "It's late in the day and soon will be night. Let's just stay here and rest… We can think of what to do tomorrow, okay?"

"THEY ARE GOING TO EAT HIM!" Screamed Antonio in frustration. This caused all attention to be forced onto him. "They were talking… talking about eating Italian food for dinner… The way they were talking, it was like they were talking about preparing his body for dinner…" A chill ran through the room. Were the witches really planning to eat them all?

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Lapin sighed and shook her head. She was tired of removing organs from Lovino's body and hated the fact that Neko had run off with his head. No doubt she was going to turn it into a Jacko lantern.

"Neko…" She muttered.

Suddenly Neko jumped up onto the table holding Lovino's head in her hands. It was missing both eyes. "You called?"

"What the hell are you doing with that?" Asked Lapin slowly. "I thought you were making a Jacko lantern?"

Neko shrugged and tossed it into the air playfully. "Jacko lanterns are so boring… I was going to practice some scalping, scoop out the brain and see where things go from there… You seriously still haven't skinned him yet? You are so lame."

Lapin growled and slammed her cleaver down, hacking off Lovino's arm. "You do it then! I'm doing my best here and you're doing nothing!"

Neko rolled her eyes and grabbed Lovino's body and pulled it over to a large meat grinder. She threw his body inside and kicked the head in too for good measure. She then picked up the organs and poured them in too. Once it was all inside she started to pull on the leaver. Strings of minced meat squired out the side into a tray. After a few turns she stopped and picked up the tray.

"And that's how you do it… Now make some meatballs out of this guy." Said Neko happily. She walked over to Lapin and handed her the meat. "Add some spices to it. It'll taste better that way, oh and the beast loves oregano and basil… Don't forget to add some blood to it so it's in a soupy stew thing."

Lapin pouted. "I don't want to cook that kind of thing… I know that The Beast wants meatballs for dinner but… I'm uncomfortable with cooking this…"

"You're uncomfortable with cooking them for food?" Asked Neko in shock.

Lapin shook her head. "No. I'm uncomfortable with making meatballs… Can't I make something like pizza instead? Much nicer then meatballs…"

Neko shook her head. "Nope. Meatballs in blood sauce. Don't forget to chill some of the blood too take make a nice drink for The Beast… If we add a little cinnamon to it, it'll spice it up a little bit."

Lapin rolled her eyes and put poured some blood into a saucepan to heat up and put the rest in the fridge. "Whatever… Can you at least prepare the baking tray? I'm going to make a lot and I don't want to cook them in a frying pan."

"Okay." Said Neko with a grin. She quickly got the tray out for Lapin and sighed happily. "So… when should we tell them about the magic totems?"

"Totems?" Asked Lapin in slight confusion. "Oh! Them! Don't we need to hide them first? I mean they can't find them if we still have them… I'm going to hide your one somewhere in the school."

Neko giggled. "You're one horrible person. They are going to get massacred in there! I like, set up a few traps in there… Also I'll hide your one in the school… I'm going to smash some of the floors too. Make it just that little bit harder."

"And you call me terrible." Muttered Lapin with a grin. "You think The Beast is happy with the first death? I mean, it wasn't really that fun to watch… It was more pathetic than anything… He didn't even seem that interesting. You just killed him because he pissed you off."

"He insulted you!" Snapped Neko. "No one insults you but me! I may not seem like it but I am a good big sister!"

Lapin chuckled at this. Neko was a good big sister. She was always looking out for her and making sure she never got hurt by anyone, several times she took the blame for what she did even though she knew it would mean severe punishment from The Beast.

"I know Neko. Oh, do you think the spell on France worked?" She asked curiously. "I mean, to make him forget like that everything that just happened to him is just… It takes a lot of energy to do something like that…"

"It's fine." Said Neko with a wicked grin. "He was too weak to fight the magic, he'll never remember what he found in that cave… Good thing too. He would have given the game away too quickly. We can't have that now can we?"

"OooooooOOOOAaaGGH!" Rattled an unstable voice through the room.

Lapin sighed and started to roll the minced meat into meatballs. "Looks like The Beast is awake again… Poor dear, do you have his tongue? The Beast needs a new tongue. The last one turned black and fell off."

Neko grinned and picked up a sowing needle, thread and a bloodied bag. "I'm always prepared for this kind of even!" She turned and skipped off happily down the hall. "Beast!" She cooed. "I have your new tongue and Lapin's making you dinner!

Lapin smiled a little and went back to cooking. She placed the meatballs on the tray and put them in the oven before putting some spices into the blood that was warming in the saucepan.

'_Every last one of them don't deserve to die a pathetic death._' She thought bitterly. '_The Beast doesn't deserve this kind of pain. What did she ever do to deserve this punishment? Was being born her sin?_' She stirred the blood until it started to thicken a little. '_Those bastards… I hope they all suffer before they die. If they knew the truth…_' She shook her head. '_No… They can't know… Not yet anyway. They need to suffer. Only the ones that have the will and are strong of heart will survive and find out the truth… Not like they will remember it._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yep… that was… well… Please review!


	9. Island Totems

**Shinigami-cat: **Sorry if anyone felt a little uneasy with the last chapter, but it had to be done. Now on with more… I OWN NOTHING!

**Island Totems**

While everyone fell into a stated of uneasy sleep, Arthur had decided his time would be better spent reading through the leather book and the pink diary. They mentioned the creatures and the witches but hardly anything about a girl in a red dress. The leather book made references to The Beast and the diary had references to the girl in a red dress, so he came to the conclusion that they were either the same person or were similar creatures. Whoever they were they had power over the witches.

Arthur sighed and leaned against the side of bell tower, he had gone up there to be alone and think things through. "This Beast and the girl in red seem to be the key… But I can't let my theory about the witches go either. Equinox…"

His theory, a terrible theory at that, was that the witches might not really be witches at all. They were too young and were too powerful to be real witches. He thought that maybe they could be some kind of spirits connected to the island, like protectors. That would fit in with why there only seemed to be neutral energy around the place instead of dark energy.

But he still didn't know were The Beast fitted in with all this. It might be possible that The Beast is the protector god of the island, but it didn't seem likely, and it didn't explain why they were here either. As far as they knew they were just randomly chosen and none of them even knew how they got there in the first place.

He sighed and looked over the diary again, the only object that seemed to have dark energy oozing from it. He turned to one of the later entries and read it.

_Today we murdered two men. They were mean to me, though they never knew me personally. They were choking me. It hurt. I wanted them to stop but they didn't listen… So Neko lured them into the hospital with two other people… _

_One of them saw their beloved hang themselves in a bathroom stall and could do nothing to stop it. I laughed. Their loved one died because they were too stupid to realize what they were doing to me. He then committed suicide. I think Neko left some of their organs to rot in a bucket in the bathroom. They can rot together forever and ever… I can breathe a little better now._

_The next man was taken to the school and locked inside with another man. Lapin scared them with her dolls, but we all agreed that Neko would serve the best punishment… She made the man that was choking me mad with hunger. With no way to escape the school and no food supplies there was only one thing he could eat. The other man managed to run away, but it was short lived. The other caught up to him and ate his throat out like an animal. When he realized what he'd done he slit his throat with a broken piece of glass… I can breathe a little better now._

Arthur cringed and put the book down. Every time he read it he felt like there was a huge weight pressing down on his shoulders. It was like a spirit was trying to possess him. He didn't like that feeling at all.

The creek of wood alerted him to someone walking up the steps. Arthur looked over and saw Yao walking towards him. "Couldn't sleep" He asked.

"Something like that." Muttered Arthur. He sighed and ran his fingers through his unruly hair. "You're the oldest right Yao? Have you ever heard or seen something like this happen before?"

Yao shook his head. "Sorry Arthur, but this is all new to me… I wouldn't even know where to start on this one."

Arthur nodded glumly. "I see… One by one… those witches are going to take us and eat us… I just don't understand why, or what this girl in red has to do with anything!"

"What girl in red?" Asked Yao curiously.

"Oh right, I didn't mention it before did I?" Muttered Arthur. He opened up the diary and showed it to Yao. "I think the girl in red is either The Beast or has similar power to it… Enough to influence the witches anyway…"

Yao looked at the picture and nodded. "I see… Hey, did you notice she seems to change every now and then?" He showed Arthur several drawings of the girl in red. In each picture there was something different about her. It could have been because of the bad drawing style or because they were drawn in crayon, but there was something different about her.

In one image her skin seemed to be charred and burnt, in another there were bandages on her arms, in one she didn't even have arms and in several she was missing her legs. "How the bloody hell did I miss that?"

"Not sure, but it seemed obvious to me…" Muttered Yao. He sighed a little and continued to flip through the diary. As he did that Arthur noticed something black starting to seep out of the book. It looked like liquid cobwebs. Yao didn't even notice it. "This is pretty dark stuff…"

Arthur gulped. "Yao… put the book down…"

"In a minute." Muttered Yao. The cobwebs wrapped themselves around his arms and started to reach up to his face.

"Put it down now." He said a little more firmly.

Yao frowned. "Arthur, I'm trying to finish reading this entry. Just give me a minute and I'll give it back." The black webs caressed Yao's face and stuck to his skin like glue. The sighed was freaking Arthur out. It was like the darkness of the book was trying to consume him.

Acting on pure instinct Arthur slapped the book out of Yao's hands, sending it and the black cobwebs that were trying to consume him out of the tower and onto the roof.

Both countries gasped and looked out the window. The book had slid down and was now resting on a gargoyle. Before they could even register what happened Lapin appeared out of nowhere and grabbed it. "Yay! Found it!"

"GIVE THAT BACK!" Snapped Arthur.

Lapin poked out her tongue and clutched the book close to her chest. "Nope! I need to give it back to The Beast. The Beast almost bit off my arm when she found out I lost it."

"So The Beast and the girl in red are one and the same?" Asked Yao. They were fishing for answers at this point.

Lapin giggled. "I'm surprised you figured that out so early on… I mean it takes about a week before people make that connection. You guys are a cleaver bunch." She whistled and Neko appeared on the roof next to her. She had a comb in her hand.

"What now?" Asked Neko in mild annoyance. "I was combing my hair you know."

"They figured out The Beast and the girl in red are one and the same!" Cheered Lapin happily. "Now we get to tell them the next part of the game!"

Neko grinned sadistically. "Really? Cool."

Arthur glared at the two girls standing on the roof of the church. "You shouldn't be able to stand here…" He muttered darkly.

"Fuck of pommy bastard." Spat Neko. "Bitch, we're on the roof. We're fine standing on the roof… Just have a little trouble with the interior…"

Lapin sighed a little. "Anyway… On a slightly more pleasant note… Neko and I have something that you may choose to find of you wish."

"That's right!" Cried Neko. "This is a once in a life time opportunity to put us in your favour! All you need to do is find one of two items. A little ceramic white rabbit and a ceramic black kitty cat, meow."

Lapin giggled a little. "You see, those items belong to us and we've lost them. If you give them back to us our magic won't work on you anymore."

"But just to clarify things aren't as they seem." Said Neko. "If you give Lapin back her rabbit my magic will still work on you but hers wont."

"And if you give Neko her cat my magic will work on you but hers wont." Said Lapin. "But only one person can have this advantage. In other words only one person can be free from either mine or Neko's magic… and on the odd occasion one can be free from both our magic."

"This is why we usually wait until you figure out The Beast and the girl in red are one and the same." Said Neko. "More people are usually dead by then… Oh well, you idiots were too smart for your own good…" A sadistic smirk crossed her face, making her yellow eyes dance with malicious intent. "Looks like you guys may either all choose to not find the totems, decide to find the totems, or kill each other over the totems."

Lapin nodded. "Yeah, we were holding back yesterday. Our magic increases every time a rule gets put in place or taken away, or whenever someone dies… So you can either see it as a good thing or a bad thing if you survive until the end…"

Neko giggled a little. "The ones that stay here are more prone to insanity. Those who die early on die a more pleasant and peaceful death than those later on."

"You murdered Lovino!" Snapped Yao. "How the hell can that be a pleasant or peaceful death?"

"… He does have a point Neko." Said Lapin. "How was shoving a pair of scissors down his throat and cutting his own spinal cord a pleasant or peaceful death?"

Arthur felt like he was going to be sick. No one knew the exact manner of which Lovino had met his end. Antonio wouldn't say anything about what he saw, apart from he was murdered.

Neko nervously rubbed the back of her head. "Um… I er… Well if we consider that Lovino's death was pretty brutal and we're saying the first people that die here die a pleasant and peaceful death, imagine how everyone else will die now! Ha, ha, ha… Yeah… Something like that anyway."

Lapin face palmed. "We need to have a serious talk about these homicidal tendencies of yours… It looks like we'll need to have circle time again…"

"Not circle time again!" Whined Neko. "I hate circle time! You can't make me!" She turned and jumped off the roof. She landed gracefully on the ground and started to run. "You can't catch me!"

Lapin shook her head and turned back to Yao and Arthur. "You should tell the others about the island totems." She turned and jumped off the roof, but stopped mid-air. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" She turned to the pair and smiled a little too sweetly. "The Beast was very upset when we forgot to give you all a warm welcome to her island yesterday… So welcome to our little slice of paradise… You'll just love it to death."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"YOU LOST THE DIARY?" Snapped Gilbert in rage. Once everyone was awake and Yao and Arthur had explained everything he was more than a little pissed that they lost the only thing that might have given them some leverage over the enemy. "YOU FUCKING IDIOTS! THAT COULD HAVE BEEN OUR TICKET OUT OF HERE!"

"WELL I'M SO FUCKING SORRY THAT YAO WAS ABOUT TO GET POSSESSED BY WHATEVER EVIL WAS LIVING IN THOSE PAGES!" Snapped Arthur right back.

"SHUT UP!" Snapped Ludwig. "So we lost the diary, it doesn't matter."

Gilbert growled. "What the fuck West? You know how important it was for those witches to get it back! If we had it we could have-"

"Could have what?" Snapped Alfred.

Francis sighed heavily. "Come on, we can't be fighting amongst ourselves. The witches probably want this. Divide and conquer, that sort of thing."

Gilbert huffed and crossed his arms. He hated it when Francis was right. It hurt his pride to no end. He would have snapped at him too if it wasn't for Matthew who gently tugged at his sleeve and shook his head. In this place, Matthew was the only thing stopping him from doing something stupid and reckless.

"Maybe we should look for the totems…" Muttered Feliciano. "If we do that, at least some of us might be able to live a little longer…"

"I agree with Feliciano." Said Ivan with a childish grin. "We might even be able to find clues as to what's going on too, da?"

Gilbert cringed a little. '_Shit, I actually agree with him. I must be going crazy…_'

"It's a little risky…" Muttered Kiku. "But it might be our only option… But we have to plan this carefully. We need to be prepared for whatever comes our way, we need to be careful in case we encounter more monsters, witches or even The Beast."

"Holy relics symbols and charms will keep the witches at bay." Said Arthur. "Everyone should carry at least one or two of those objects… Who knows, they might work on weaker monsters too."

"Will it even make a difference?" Asked Francis casually. "I mean, they are powerful, too powerful…"

Gilbert growled darkly. "You sound like you've given up already Francis…" He walked over to him and grabbed the front of his shirt. "Are you fucking kidding me? One person's dead and you just give up, no questions asked? Pussy! Grow a set and fucking fight!"

Francis frowned, but made no attempt to push Gilbert away. "You don't think I know that? All I was saying is that I don't think we can rely on those kinds of things to save us! Don't freak out just because you thought you saw Matthew hang himself in the hospital!"

Gilbert's expression changed from one of rage to one of pure shock. "… How did you know that? I-I didn't tell anyone…"

"I did." Muttered Matthew softly. "I-I just needed to talk to him about it…"

Gilbert frowned and let Francis go. "Fine…" He wasn't happy that Matthew had told Francis about it. He walked back over to Matthew and sat next to him.

"Dude… Matthew got hanged?" Asked Alfred in shock.

Matthew shook his head. "No… It was one of those memory pulses. Gilbert only thing he saw me getting hung. I've never even had a noose around my neck… But while we're on that topic, what happened to you and Kiku? You looked shaken up too."

Alfred bit his lip nervously. "Kiku… The memory pulse made me think that Kiku slit my throat and stabled me in the face… It was so realistic."

"Too realistic…" Muttered Antonio. He was sitting away from the group, still holding the axe he managed to steal from an Axeman. Ever since he came back he was deathly quiet. "I must have touched a memory pulse because I had a vision that Lovino gouged out my left eye… One of his eyes was missing too… I told him to get rid of those scissors but he didn't listen to me…"

Gilbert sighed. He hated when Antonio was like this. When he got like this bad things were only a stone's throw away. Lovino's death was really getting to him. "Okay, let's do this in a civilized way." He muttered. "We'll get volunteers and split up to go to different places, or we can stay here for a few more days and decide what to do. We have enough food and water to last for at least two weeks or more before we even think about looking for more stuff."

They took a quick vote and it was decided that they would stay in the church for a few more days while they tried to figure things out. Most agreed it was a good thing, although there were few that were obviously upset with this choice.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Lapin sighed a little as she moved her chess piece across the board. She and Neko had been playing for two hours straight using knuckle bones as the pieces. The charred ones were Neko's and the ones that were picked clean of flesh and cartilage were hers.

"You think they'll start looking for them any time soon?" She asked.

Neko shrugged and too Lapin's knight. "No clue… I bet my collection of mummified hearts that either Spain or Prussia snaps and kills someone."

"I don't think anyone will murder someone this time around…" Said Lapin softly. "This bunch is more open to their feelings than the others. I believe there will be more revenge killings than anything else. Also we're not allowed to make bets."

Neko sighed dramatically. "The no betting rule is so boring though! Does The Beast want us to die of boredom?"

"She just wants it to be a fair fight for survival." Said Lapin. "Survival of the fittest, that kind of thing."

"Sound stupid if you ask me…" Muttered Neko. "Who gives a shit of the strongest survive? Weed out the strongest, let the weak cower in fear and die screaming. It's more fun that way… More entertaining. The Beast loves it when they suffer."

Lapin nodded in agreement. "Yeah… At least she's happy that she has her diary back. I wouldn't have been able to show my face again if I really lost it."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

In a small dark room, lit only by candle light there was a small girl. She looked no older than twelve. He long brown hair was falling out in clumps onto her red dress. It didn't matter that she was covered in bandages, that her legs were broken, one of her eyes had started to rot or the stitches on her newly acquired tongue itched terribly and bled. She had her diary back. She giggled a little and started to write more into the book in a green crayon.

_Today Neko gave me a new tongue. My last one got burnt to a crisp and fell off. I was in horrible pain. My new tongue bleeds a lot, but worse has happened to me… _

_There are more people on the island. I want them to bleed. I want them to be in pain. None of them deserve to live. I want them all to die. If they die a painless death then I don't know what I'll do… They need to suffer…_

_More._

_I want more._

_More must suffer for what they did to me. I'll drag them all into my nightmare. They'll never wake up from it. They'll live it over and over again._

She reached over to a bowl of food and picked out one of the blood soaked meatballs. She giggled and bit into it, getting blood on the page.

_More._

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **… Yeah I have no idea what to say about this… Please review!


	10. Witches Day Off I

**Shinigami-cat: ** The previous chapters have been so gloomy, so I've decided to make a slightly more cheerful one to balance it out a bit… I OWN NOTHING!

**Witches Day Off**

With the countries locked in the church to decide what to do next Neko, Lapin and The Beast had free reign of the island. They decided to go to the beach and relax, even though there was a massive fog. Lapin wore a white bikini with a rash top and short shorts. Neko wore a black one piece with long shorts and The Beast wore a red two piece, a slightly see through red dress and the biggest sun hat in the world. UV rays made her skin blister.

Lapin giggled as she ran out into the sea. "The water's wonderful! Perfect temperature for a foggy day like today!"

Neko nodded in agreement and randomly poked dead fish that washed up onto the beach. "Good job Lapin."

The Beast just sat on the beach and grunted in approval. Although she had a tongue she couldn't speak properly yet. She sighed and looked down at the festering flesh on her arms. It was gross and green, with flecks of yellow and brown. '_Soon… soon they will all know what this feels like…_'

"Hey Beast!" Called Lapin. "Come swim with me! The salt will clean out your wounds!"

The Beast nodded and lifted her arms up. "Kaweey meeh…" She rasped.

Neko smiled and picked the beast up, in doing so part of the Beast's leg fell off. "… I'll get you some new legs soon. Sound good?" The Beast nodded and Neko put her in the shallow's.

The Beast shivered horribly. It wasn't because she felt cold, but because of the searing pain shooting through her body because of the salt in the ocean. She knew it was good for her and would help in the long run, but it still hurt beyond belief. '_I need to get better._' She told herself over and over again. '_I need to get better. I need to get better. I can't do anything if I'm sick… I don't want to die. I don't want to die._'

"Are you okay?" Asked Lapin. "It looks like you want to say something."

The Beast coughed. "I-I on't wan oo ie." She muttered. "I on't wan oo ie. Ay ould ie… Noow me."

"Of course you don't want to die!" Cried Neko. "You of all people deserve to live! Those bastards did this to you! You never wanted for this shit to happen! But don't worry because Lapin and I will always be here to make them pay for what they've done to you!"

The Beast smiled a little. "Ank oo." She always felt comforted when surrounded by her friends. Even if the world abandoned her, Lapin and Neko would always be there for her. Suddenly she sneezed. The force was so great that her rotting eye fell out of its socket and into the water. Thick streams of green, black and red flowed out with it.

She cringed. '_… Does it even matter if I eat those creatures? I don't feel any stronger from eating Romano… Perhaps that's because he's only one half of a whole? If I eat the northern half will I feel better? I wonder about Prussia too. He's no longer a country. Will I gain anything from eating him?_' She giggled a little. '_Red eyes would look nice on me… But so would Russia or Canada's pretty violet eyes… Maybe both._'

Lapin smiled and picked a crab out of the water. "Are you hungry? Will this help quench your hunger until we kill another?"

The Beast smiled and took the crab into her hands. The ripped of its limbs and bit into the shell. She cut her gums a little on the shell, but she didn't mind. While she was eating Lapin and Neko went off to gather sea weed for themselves. Although they killed and cooked meat they were strict vegetarians, although they did indulge in drinking milk and eating eggs now and then.

Once The Beast had finished eating the crab she let the water wash her back into the sand. Everything below her right knee had fallen off. It just rotted away. From her spot on the sand she could see it decomposing even now. It was like time had sped up on it. The flesh melted off the bone and eventually even the bone crumbled away.

"I on't wan oo ie." She whispered. "I on't wan oo ie…"

After a while Lapin and Neko walked back over to her and helped her up. "Okay!" Cried Neko. "Let's get you to the hospital!"

Lapin nodded in agreement. "We need to patch you up again sweetie."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

At the hospital Neko wrapped The Beast's stump leg while Lapin sat in a wheel chair patting an trembling Anxiety on her lap. Once Neko was done she grinned. "All done! Good as new! Well… almost… We can get you a new leg later okay?"

The Beast nodded. "Oakay."

Lapin got out of the wheel chair and moved it over so that The Beast could sit in it. Neko put The Beast in the chair and grinned. "You know what this means right?"

"Eeel air acing!" Cheered The Beast with delight.

"That's right!" Squealed Lapin. "Wheel chair racing!" She put the Anxiety in a similar chair and beamed. "Let's race from the top floor down to the bottom! No elevators and only use flying to avoid obstacles and the stairs! Who's in?"

Neko grinned. "Awesome! Let's do that! Let's do that! What do you say Beast?"

The Beast nodded happily. '_I love wheel chair racing. It's so much fun. It's nice to feel the wind in my hair again… I miss the days when I could freely walk in the country side on a warm summers day…_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The Beast smiled happily as she walked bare foot along the grassy hills. Her hair was shiny and healthy again and her eyes shone bright green. She loved the feel of the warm sun against her skin.

"What a perfect day." She said in a sing, song voice. The Beast loved this time to herself in total isolation. It didn't matter if she got a little dirt on her white dress. She was just happy to be where she was.

But her bliss was short lived for soon pain started to creep up her spine. "Huh? W-what is this feeling? It hurts… It… Gah!" A crippling sheik rang through her throat. She fell to the ground unable to move at all.

'_W-what's happening to me? I can't move my legs!_' She was starting to hyperventilate. '_Why is this happening? Someone help me! Please! Someone! Anyone! Please… Please save me… please… I'm scared…_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The Beast shook her head. '_Now's not the time to think about those thoughts… I'm alive… Well at least not dead._'

"Ready to go?" Asked Neko excitedly. They were on the roof of the hospital ready to race. The Anxiety was rocking in the wheel chair, black acid was bubbling out of its mouth slightly in fear.

"Three! Two! One! Go!" Cried Lapin. She pushed her wheel chair forwards towards the steps. Neko quickly followed, pushing The Beast.

It was fun. So much fun to feel that cool wind rushing by her skin, even though it was almost impossible to feel it against her skin. Her nerves had been fried and charred and burnt to many times. The Beast was laughing and screaming with joy. She didn't mind if she won or not, this was just fun.

She held on tight when Neko by passed Lapin and jumped down the steps to the next floor. It was exciting and just so much fun. There was always a thrill when they raced around at break neck speed.

Eventually they got to the front doors and burst through the door. "And the winner is The Beast and Neko!" Cried Neko in delight. "We won! We won!"

A few moments later Lapin came out the doors with the Anxiety still cowering in the wheel chair. She tripped and fell. She managed to catch herself and stop mid-air before she hit the ground but the Anxiety got crushed. It let out a defeated cry before spewing a thick stream of acid out of its mouth and dying.

The Beast frowned a little. "Oo add."

Lapin sighed a little and got to her feet. "Yeah… I wonder if they know that the acid they spit before they die is the most deadly?"

"Well if they don't know it'll be a fun surprise for them." Said Neko with a smirk. "It's not like they deserve much sympathy from us anyway. They all deserve to be here. Every last one of them. I hate them all."

"Then what was that whole thing with you and Canada right at the start of the game?" Cooed Lapin playfully.

Neko rolled her eyes. "Okay so I hate him less than the others… But have you seen his wilderness? It's so vast and mysterious and green! Plus I kind of like the musical Pirates of Penzance."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Asked Lapin.

Neko stared at Lapin in shock. "Oh come on!" She cleared her throat and started to sing a little. "Climbing over rocky mountains… Canada has the fucking rocky mountains you idiot!"

Lapin and The Beast chuckled. '_I forgot about that musical…_' Thought The Beast. '_It's an English musical right? I liked it. Very funny. Especially the Pirate King and his tight purple pants._'

"Shut up!" Snapped Neko. "It's not like you two don't have favourites too! Lapin, I know you like Japan more than the others!"

Lapin smiled and nodded. "Yeah, but I like Japan because of the rich culture and anime."

"I av o favoits." Said The Beast. "All equil." The Beast had no concept of favouritism for the victims on her island. In her eyes there were all as guilty as the one before them, if not more. The only ones she really cared about were Lapin and Neko, but they weren't even victims. They were more like the game keepers, making sure the whole game ran smoothly with minimum stuff ups.

"Well of course you have no favourites." Said Neko. "You've never had a favourite, unless it's your favourite way to die. But that's a different story."

"I like it when couples sacrifice themselves." Said Lapin happily. "Those are the best kinds of deaths."

"No way!" Cried Neko. "The best deaths are the over the top bloody ones! Screw that self-sacrificing bullshit! I want blood, guts and gore! The kinds of deaths where you have to scrape the person off the wall!"

Lapin cringed. "That's a little excessive, don't you think?"

"No way." Said Neko. "They're all expendable anyway. Who gives a shit about how they die?"

'_In the end are they too expendable?_' Thought The Beast. '_Are even my friends part of the problem? No. My friends have never been part of the problem. They care about me and I care about them. We are a family. We will always be a family. Anyone else who tries to hurt us will pay. They will burn._'

"I want to set a fire." Said Neko suddenly. "I want to set the church on fire."

"I think we need to have a talk about this pyromaniac thing of yours." Said Lapin with a small smile. "We can't burn down the church just yet. We need to wait a bit longer… We can burn it down when at least half of them are dead… Maybe we should kill England?"

"Why him?" Asked Neko curiously. The Beast was also interested to hear Lapin's reasoning.

Lapin nervously played with her hair. "Well… He's got some weird theory and he keeps calling us the Equinox… I don't mind being called that, but he's pretty close to the truth and it's only been a few days… I mean he's not even one of the final three and he knows more than those before him…"

The Beast frowned at this news. '_Tricky… I don't like this. I guess his magic is more in tuned with the island then I thought. But he must be only getting neural energy. The only way he would be able to get dark energy here is if he touched an object close to me like my diary or my doll… But my doll is broken up into six pieces. Hardly that dangerous when apart… I think part of it is hidden in the church actually… Oh well. It's not like they'll figure it out anyway._'

"I want to do something fun!" Cried Neko. "Something really fun! Something that involves fire! And burning! And death! And blood!"

Lapin shrugged. "Set traps up for the others when they go to the school or the office buildings, because The Beast won't let us hide both totems in the same place?"

Neko grinned. "Sounds awesome! But what kind of traps? Explosion type traps? Cutting type traps? Button type traps?"

"I don't know." Said Lapin. She walked over to several boxes that were piled up on the side of the road and started to look through them. After about a minute of searching she found some piano wire. "Can you do anything with this?"

Neko grinned and grabbed it. "Piano wire type traps! I can do that!" By the way she was smiling and jumping around, one might have thought that Christmas had come early for Neko. "Slicey, slicey, cutty, cutty! So much blood! So much pain! Surprise attacks! Best day ever! Do you think they even realize how much planning we can do while they sit there like stunned mullets?"

"If they did they would be too scared to leave the church." Said Lapin happily. She walked over to The Beast and grabbed her wheel chair. "Well, while she's doing that lets go home. I can get you an nice Italian wine, the last of it too. Are you getting hungry again?"

The Beast nodded. "Ungwe!"

Lapin smiled happily. "Don't worry, you'll soon be eating delicious foods again. You'll feel much better with their meat inside you. I can guarantee that."

The Beast smiled happily. She knew it was true. When she had devoured every last soul on the island she would feel so much better. It always felt good to eat. '_I wonder what I'll eat next?_' She pondered. '_I could always go for an American hamburger or and English steak and kidney pie… Canadian bacon sounds good too. Chinese food is also very nice. I haven't had much Russian food or Spanish food or French food lately… I wouldn't mind sushi or some German food. I can have more Italian another time._' She giggled a little. This was just too easy sometimes.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **And that's what the witches do on their day off with the Beast. They go to the beach and have wheel chair races while plotting about how to kill everyone else. Please review!


	11. Stone Basin

**Shinigami-cat: **And now for the next chapter. Prepare for nothing too special to happen here… I OWN NOTHING!

**Stone Basin**

The countries were slowly going crazy being couped up in the church. Many of them wanted to get out and attack the witches and the monsters, even The Beast. Perhaps if they got rid of her they would go home. Maybe Lovino could get resurrected? Who knew.

Either way Arthur had to think of something. He knew just by looking around that he had somehow become the leader in this situation. He needed to make a decision soon or everything would descend into chaos. They still hadn't come to a decision about the totems just yet.

"What should we do?" Asked Arthur. "Are we going to keep staying in here or are we going to do something? Those witches have probably made more traps for us to fall into with the time we've been stuck here!"

"It can't really be helped." Said Ivan calmly, a smile gracing his face. "We have no idea what we are up against. We have no idea how to fight it. We can't fight magic with these man made weapons." Several people nodded in agreement.

"Then it's time to start fighting magic with magic." Hissed Arthur darkly.

Alfred rolled his eyes. "You're the only one that pays attention to that bullshit. We normal people don't know much about that stuff."

Arthur rolled his eyes right back. "You idiots… If you know anything, which you don't. We have two other experts on the occult right here in this room." He gestured towards Ludwig and Gilbert.

There was an odd silence in the room. Gilbert and Ludwig looked at each other nervously, like someone had just said something unpleasant. It was unnerving not just for the brothers but for everyone else in the room.

Matthew frowned and looked up at Gilbert, who was still holding him. "You two know about the occult, eh?"

Gilbert sighed and shrugged. "Eyebrows is right. Back during our Nazi days near the end of the war we were at our wits end we were kind of forced to find ways of keeping people alive indefinitely. Kind of like us, but for mortals."

"It wasn't working though." Said Ludwig coldly. "They wanted to perform experiments on children and they did, all of it was disgusting and horrible. No one should live forever if they have to kill people to do it."

"Or more specifically, children in an orphanage in my country." Muttered Kiku. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, but combining black magic with surgery is… not natural."

Ludwig nodded. "I can't remember the detail but the experiments were something along the lines of finding a way to shut off the kill switch inside the brain. The kill switch is a subconscious trigger that activates when a mortal reached the age of about thirty six… The war ended before the experiments did and… It's thought that some of those children now have supernatural powers…"

"Dude… So this shit's happening because of Nazi's?" Asked Alfred in confusion. "Because it kind of sounds like that's what you just said."

"NO!" Snapped Gilbert and Ludwig in unison. They were still touchy on the whole Nazi subject. What they were forced to do during those times was unspeakable and they would take many of those secrets to the grave.

Arthur sighed. This isn't what he wanted to achieve. "I think what Alfred's implying is that The Beast might be from that experiment or something similar."

"Not possible." Said Gilbert. "All the papers concerning that kind of thing were burnt and destroyed… It was kind of the last order before… Well, you all know the story."

"But it's a good theory." Muttered Antonio. He sighed a little and scratched his chin. "So… The Beast might be some crazy cannibalistic immortal or maybe some kind of flesh hungry demon."

Kiku nodded. "Yes… Considering our situation I think that those might be the only logical explanations we have… Even though they do sound completely illogical." Everyone nodded in agreement. This place, these creatures and these witches. Nothing really made sense these days anymore.

Francis cleared his throat a little. "If we are going on the premises that logic is illogical and the illogic is now logic I think I know a place that might have some answers…" Everyone looked at Francis expectantly. "When I was looking for Antonio, I found a cave… I didn't get a chance to look in it properly, but I think that there's something important inside there."

Arthur nodded a little. "I see… If you lead the way I'll go with you. I've had enough of staying in here waiting for the witches to make a move."

"I'm coming too!" Cried Alfred. "The hero will not let those witches mess with my head!"

"I want to come too." Said Yao. He grabbed his spear and grinned. "It might be fun to try and take on a witch."

With the people agreed upon they gathered their weapons and started to head for the door. "Wait! I want to go too." Said Feliciano. He pouted a little when several sceptical glances were thrown his way. "I-I wanted to go before, maybe if I did… Lovino would still be alive."

Arthur frowned a little. He didn't want to bring Feliciano along because he would be useless in a fight, but at the same time he didn't want to tell him no. "Fine, but stay close and run like hell if we get into trouble."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Francis led the group back to the cave with minimal effort. They came into contact with a few Screams and one or two Invisibles but other than that they were fine. Feliciano was a little shaken up though, but he stood his ground and didn't run back to the safety of the church.

Francis sighed a little as he stood back from it. He seemed a little reluctant to go in. "This is it…"

Alfred frowned a little. '_Nice cave… I swear if there's a monster in here I will not be impressed._'

"Two people should wait outside if something happens." Said Yao calmly.

"I agree." Said Arthur. He gazed over at Feliciano and smiled a little. "I assume you don't want to go in there Feliciano?" Feliciano shook his head quickly. Caves were not his friends.

"How about I stay out here with him?" Suggested Francis. "I… I really don't want to go back in there…"

Alfred rolled his eyes. Of course Francis was going to wimp out at the last second. "Fine. The hero will go. Let's go Iggy, Yao."

The two older countries rolled their eyes and followed the American into the cave. There was an odd metallic smell coming from deep within the cave. It wasn't too bad, but it still made them feel a little ill.

After they walked a few feet into the cave the walls changed from a dark brown to a rusty red colour. The walls were covered in blood splatter. It was almost as if someone had dropped a fire cracker into a bucket of red paint.

"This is disgusting." Muttered Yao. "Who would do this to a person?"

"The witches." Said Alfred. Blood continued to drip down the walls as they continued further into the cave. The stench of death and rotting meat became worse with each step until the found the source. There was a stone basin filled with organs, heart, lungs, intestines and brain. The sight was enough to make them all gag.

"Bloody hell." Hissed Arthur. "What the hell are those witches doing? What the… why the… Who the hell is that anyway?"

"I'm not sure." Said Yao. "We should leave."

Suddenly Alfred's phone went off causing everyone to jump. He frowned and looked at his phone. Alfred had received a text but he had no reception at all. Nervously he looked at the text and turned a sickly shade of white. "Oh fuck…" He whispered. "It's from Francis."

"What does it say?" Asked Arthur. When Alfred didn't answer the Brit took the phone out of Alfred's ands and quickly read it. He too went as white as a ghost.

"What does it say?" Asked Yao.

Arthur gulped. "Please… stop looking at… my insides…" Everyone was silent. This was too much. The thought that Francis was murdered sent chills up their spines.

Alfred shivered. "Guys… If Francis is dead, who's out there with Feliciano?"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Feliciano sighed a little as he sat gown next to the mouth of the cave. He was scared of the monsters that were here, but he had to try and be strong. He didn't want to be useless. He needed to be helpful, for the good of everyone here. He would do his best to make sure everyone stayed alive.

Francis smiled a little and sat in front of Feliciano. "Are you okay? You seem to still be upset about Lovino's… passing…"

"Of course I'm upset." Muttered Feliciano sadly. "Lovino was my fratello. I would do anything to have him back…"

"Really?" Asked Francis curiously. "Would you really do anything? Would you kill to bring him back? Would you sacrifice the rest of us?"

"Ve? No!" Cried Feliciano. Sure he wanted his brother back, but he wouldn't kill or harm anyone for that to happen.

Suddenly Francis grabbed Feliciano by his shoulders and started shaking him. "LIES!" He yelled. "YOU WOULD KILL US ALL! I KNOW YOU DO! THAT THOUGHT'S CROSSED YOUR MIND! I KNOW IT!"

"LET ME GO!" Cried Feliciano. He managed to push Francis back. He watched in shock as Francis just laid there. Not moving at all, not making a sound.

Suddenly Francis chuckled and slowly sat up, keeping low to the ground like a cockroach. Feliciano trembled in fear. This wasn't Francis. It wasn't. He scuttled over to Feliciano, his mouth stretched unnaturally wide on his face showing all of his teeth.

Soon his was right up in Feliciano's face, but he was too afraid to scream. It was like his throat had closed up completely. The only thing that could escape was a small, petrified squeak.

Francis just grinned, his eyes wild and dangerous. He picked up the buck knife, insanity blazing in his eyes.

'_He's going to kill me!_' Screamed Feliciano in his mind. '_He's going to murder me! What has he become?_'

But instead of killing Feliciano, Francis did something quite shocking. He let his tongue slither out from between his lips and into the blade, cutting his tongue in half. The blood oozed out of the wound and dribbled down his chin. All the while Francis was grinning like it didn't even hurt. Then he started cutting into the flesh on his face, pulling the skin off in sheets.

Feliciano felt faint. He couldn't move from his spot against the rock wall. "S-stop it." He whispered. "Stop it Francis! Just stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"

Francis chuckled childishly, bringing the point of the point of the blade up to his right eye. He pushed the tip of the blade inside and started to carve out his retina. All while he chuckled. "Why so afraid Italy?" He whispered in a raspy, higher pitched voice. It sounded more like a young girl with a cold. "Are you scared of my nightmare? See what you're doing to me? See what everyone is doing to me? Do you know who I am? Do you know anything at all?"

Feliciano screamed and held his arms over his head. "GO AWAY! GO AWAY! SOMEONE HELP ME!"

There was a sickening crack followed by a ragged cry. Slowly Feliciano opened his eyes to see Francis was laying on the ground with a gaping crack in the side of his head. What disturbed him most was that there was no brain tissue mixed in with the blood. It was like someone had cracked open an egg.

"Are you okay Feliciano?" Asked Alfred as he knelt down next to Feliciano, still clutching the axe that delivered the final blow to Francis. He looked really shaken up. He probably never thought he would have to kill a country.

Feliciano nodded slowly, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. "Francis… He- he wasn't him. It couldn't have been. He just started acting so strangely. What happened to him? What is he?"

"I think I might have an answer for that." Muttered Yao darkly. He rolled Francis onto his back, pulled up his shirt and cut him open with the sharp end of his spear.

Blood flowed out in gallons, way more blood then would be considered normal in a person of his size. Apart from the blood his chest cavity was empty. It was like someone had gutted him. It was enough to make anyone sick to their stomachs. "He's been gutted." Muttered Alfred, pointing out the bleeding obvious.

"He was a zombie." Said Arthur. "Not in the whole, eating human flesh sense like so many horror movie would have you believe… Shit I've seen something similar to this before…" He growled in frustration and pulled his hair a little. "I know I've seen something like this before… Why can't I remember it? Damn it! Damn it all!"

"I want to go back to the church…" Whispered Feliciano. "I… I don't want to be here… Francis he… I don't want to remember him like this."

"What do you think happened to him?" Asked Alfred quietly.

Yao sighed a little. "Perhaps the witches got him when he got separated from Ludwig? Remember Francis met up with Antonio after some time. The witches could have gutted him and done this."

"… So they can do this to anyone of us?" Asked Alfred. "Then doesn't that mean that anyone of us could be turned if we're left alone? Does that mean that Ludwig, Antonio and Gilbert not to mention Russia, Matthew and Feliciano could possibly be like Francis? As far as I know all of them were alone for a long period of time before even meeting up with someone."

Feliciano's eyes went wide with fear. "W-What? How could you suspect me? I'm not like… like that?"

"Feliciano isn't one of… whatever Francis was." Said Arthur calmly. "If I recall Francis was pretty strong about us not using charms of holy symbols to ward off the witches. Perhaps his actions were being manipulated? That would explain a lot."

Feliciano closed his eyes and shuddered. '_Witches, devils… I don't care what you call them! They are unholy creatures that are trying to murder us! They'll get us all! I don't want to die here! Please… I don't want to die!_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"And just like that our doll is broken." Said Neko with a small frown. She was leaning against a tree fiddling around with a phone.

Lapin rolled her eyes. "If you didn't want them to discover France why did you send that text?"

Neko shrugged. "A little bit of ghost action always stirs primal fear in them." She hit a few more buttons before dropping the phone and crushing it under her foot. "Besides, the beast was hungry. I feel like making some fancy French stuff."

Lapin rolled her eyes. "What if they bury him."

"Then I'll just dig him back up stupid." Said Neko in a matter of fact kind of way. She giggled a little. "Funny isn't it? Two people have died but we haven't said the thing we usually chant at a time like this."

Lapin smiled a little. "You're right. Do you want to say it or will I?"

Neko shrugged. "You can do it."

Lapin giggled a little. "I'm afraid that they must go, we must appease The Beast below."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… What should I do next chapter? Should I focus on some RoChu or PruCan. You guys can choose. Please review!


	12. School

**Shinigami-cat: **After much deliberation I decided to flip a coin to see who this next chapter would be about. So please enjoy. I'm so sorry this took me so long to write! It takes forever to come up with an idea about what will happen without giving away the whole plot! So I'm sorry if this chapter is shit… I OWN NOTHING!

**School**

Most would have though by the way that he was acting that he was the calmest in this situation. Ivan didn't necessarily agree. On one hand they had been put in a life or death situation where it was more than likely that everyone would die. On the other hand it was quite nice to be out of the cold for once.

He looked over at what everyone else was doing; Kiku was talking with Ludwig, Gilbert was in deep discussion with Matthew and Antonio was scratching something into the wooden panels of some of the wooden chairs. It was all so depressing.

With a small sigh he stood up and picked up his pipe. "I'm going to go for a walk. It's boring here."

"You shouldn't leave." Said Ludwig in a warning tone. "The others will be back soon and who knows what might be out there."

"We know exactly what's out there." Said Ivan. "Witches, monsters and The Beast. If I run into any trouble I think I can defend myself. I'll probably run into the others anyway." With no one else objecting he smiled a little. "Well if you need me I will be going to the school."

"Are you going to look for the totem things?" Asked Gilbert.

Ivan frowned for a moment in deep thought. "If I find one I find one. If I don't I don't. I myself just want to find some more information about this evil little girl." He turned and walked out the door, taking with him his pipe.

Unbeknownst to the others, Ivan had been studying the leather book that contained the monsters. By reading through it and studying the behavioural patterns of everyone else he figured that the only creatures that could do him any life threatening damage were the Dolls, Witches and The Beast.

He had deduced that since they were stuck in a living hell that the monsters might be more connected to them than they originally thought. He thought that maybe that the monsters were an embodiment of what they feared and hated the most about themselves.

For example the Blobs were large and fat. If one were to look at it logically these Blobs were huge and seemed hard to defeat and according to the book they appeared in narrow places and spewed dead rats everywhere. Rats were a symbol of disease in many countries and there was only one country he knew that was obsessed with weight gain and loss. America.

Using that logic it was obvious to tell which monsters would attack what people; The Screams, Feliciano. The Invisibles, Matthew. Axemen, Antonio and or Arthur. Blobs, Alfred. Beds, Francis. Gassers, Ludwig and Gilbert. Anxiety, Kiku and Yao. Weeping, Arthur and or Yao. Dolls, Ivan. Gobbler, all of them.

When one thought about it, it was all very logical. Feliciano was at heart a coward and would run away and call for help. Matthew always went unnoticed by everyone around him. Antonio and Arthur both had a deep, blood thirsty rage hidden in them. Alfred was deathly afraid of gaining weight because it would stop him from reaching his goals.

Ludwig and Gilbert still felt deeply guilty about the events of World War two. Kiku and Yao may have seemed relatively calm but they were both people who would become anxious for the smallest reasons. Arthur and Yao still had emotions over the countries they helped raised leave them. Ivan did his best to seem none threatening to everyone, but there was still the dark side that he was afraid that someone might see.

Using this he knew he didn't have to waist too much energy or effort attacking those monsters. The only other monster he had to look out for was the Gobbler. From what he read he assumed that it was some kind of creature formed from greed. He mainly thought this because while the other creatures just seemed to want to attack them, the Gobbler was the only one that seemed to want to attack them for food and consume their bodies.

Ivan chuckled a little to himself as he walked. He could hear creatures moving around all around him. "I think I understand why we are here now." He said to the vast endless expanse. "Do you hear me witches? The only things that can kill me here are the Dolls, Gobblers, you, The Beast and my own stupidity. I'd love to see you try to kill me."

With nothing but the howl of the wind and the occasional scraping of claws along gravel, Ivan rested his pipe across his shoulders and happily whistled to himself as he walked towards the school.

When he got to the school he sighed a little. The place looked really rundown and decrepit. With a small sigh he opened up the door and walked inside. It looked just how it did before with its cracked walls and the sick smell of decay.

It may have seemed odd to choose to look for clues in a place like this, but when thinking logically it was obvious that the school would hold the answers. The Beast was apparently a child of around seven and the witches seemed to be young adolescent girls, probably hadn't even hit puberty yet. School was always a large part of any young person's life. This was a place where friends would meet, learn and play together.

Ivan chuckled a little and started to walk along the halls again. He could hear the pipes rattling in the walls a little, but it was nothing to be really concerned about. It was nice to be alone in this place, away from the scared and bitter talk of the others. This was a place where he could relax a little and think things through properly.

He was quite interested in meeting Neko face to face. From what he had heard about her, she seemed like the more sadistic of the witches, taking pleasure in damaging them psychologically. He himself had always been interested in that, considering he had done similar things to people in his own lifetime. They weren't things he was particularly proud of, but he did hold some degree of respect to those who could inflict pain on people without doing any physical harm.

He took a few different turns down different halls looking at the different posters on the walls. They were the usual anti-bullying, healthy living, bus, train and road safety posters that one would expect to see in any school but they were unusual. They were all in different languages; English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Welsh, Latin and several different Asian languages that Ivan had difficulty distinguishing between.

'_Interesting…_' He thought. '_Maybe when The Beast was alive she moved around a lot with her family._' He had come to the conclusion that The Beast might be a ghost or was a creature that possessed her body. Either one seemed accurate to him.

He sighed a little and decided to look inside some classrooms. The first classroom he went into had most of its tables over turned and broken. He frowned a little and walked over to the teacher's desk, having a look through the draws.

There was nothing much in there, just some pens and pencils. Ivan sighed disappointedly. "Well it is just the first room… There might be something helpful in other rooms."

He spent the better part of the day walking around trying to find clues as to who The Beast was. Eventually he came to a locked classroom. It had a big old padlock on it and what looked like several Japanese paper charms stuck to it. Without mush hesitation, Ivan cracked open the lock with his pipe and easily opened the door. What was inside the room chilled him to the bone, not just as a person, but as a country.

In its prime, this room could have been a geography classroom. There were worlds maps and globes everywhere… pictures of far off tribes, cities, wildlife and people. This would have been a fun place, a place of joy but there was dried blood everywhere and claw marks on the maps like an animal had gotten to them. There was dried blood splatter on the windows and a thick black fungus growing in one corner of the room.

"What happened here?" Wondered Ivan. "It looks like someone got massacred in here." The only thing in the room untouched by the blood was a note that was pinned to the wall. Cautiously Ivan walked over to it and read it. It was scribbled down hastily in black ink.

_I hate them. I hate them. I hate them all. I want them all to die. I don't want a single one left alive. I hate them. I want them to get lock away in my nightmare. I want to scare them. I want them to bleed. I want them to scream. I want them to beg me to spare their lives. When they beg me I will look down on them and smile. I will say no._

Ivan frowned. It seemed as though this was a message from The Beast. Whatever happened to her when she was still alive must have been dreadful. "How sad… She blames everyone in the world for what happened to her. I wonder who died in here?"

"A nosy bastard. That's who." Snapped Neko.

Ivan turned around and smiled a little too sweetly at Neko. "So I take it that you're Neko? I already met your sister."

Neko nodded. "Yep. That's me." She smiled and leaned against the door frame. "So what's up Russia? Did you want to see me? Get a little education on this place? That kind of thing?"

"Something like that." Said Ivan. "I want to know who died in here."

"Some American." She said with a smile. "He thought he had everything figured out, but then a Weeping pulled him apart while The Beast sat right there and watched." She pointed over towards the teacher's desk. "Well… she would have watched if she had eyes at the time. She listened instead."

Ivan frowned a little. "At the time? Are you saying she… is made from other people's body parts?"

Neko shrugged. "Well, it's a little bit of both, everything is made from her and everything makes her… It's a little difficult to explain without all the pieces. But The Beast was here before you and The Beast will be here after you. Simple as that."

"Then am I to assume that this Beast is the devil?" Asked Ivan. The way that Neko was speaking about the girl made him think that she was some kind of vessel for the antichrist. "You speak like she has been here forever and ever and ever."

Neko chuckled. "Well, in a way she has. She doesn't age like mortals and she doesn't fall like countries. She despises the world and loves it at the same time. She loves the part of the world that loves her and hates the art that hates her. Just because she doesn't want to die doesn't mean she necessarily wants to live either. It all depends on how you look at things."

"You are very confusing." Muttered Ivan. He took a few steps towards Neko. "Okay so she may or may not be the devil, but what are you then? You honestly don't seem like any witches I've ever heard about."

Neko's mouth stretched into a sick and twisted grin, showing off her white teeth. "Ever stop to think we aren't witches? Just because some creatures look mortal and can cast magic doesn't mean we are magic. There are a million other creatures out there that can look like little girls but have powerful magic. But then again I could just be fucking with your mind, so yeah…"

This was interesting. If these girls weren't witches then what were they? Ivan didn't have much of an idea about other creatures that could look like human girls and cast magic. "So go on then… tell me what you really are."

"Does it really matter anymore?" Asked Neko. "We've been playing this game for far too long to change our ways. Our identity has been shattered and morphed again and again to fit the ideals of those we capture. Sometimes they see us as succubus's, demons, trolls, instruments of pure evil the usual and standard stuff."

Ivan tilted his head in mild confusion. "So are you saying you and your sister are like the monsters? You're just creatures made to torment and destroy us?"

"Torment and destroy are such harsh words." Said Neko. "We prefer the terms obliterate and decimate. But no we are not like those monsters. We made them to attack you guys. By the way, congratulations for working out who they attack and why. That hasn't happened for a few hundred years."

Ivan shrugged. "That doesn't really help me that much but I guess I'll take it… Why are you being so helpful?"

Neko blinked a few times before breaking out into hysterical laughter. "Because I've trapped you hare and you're not leaving this school alive! " She clicked her fingers and vanished into thin air.

Ivan rolled his eyes. "Of course she would say something like that…" He decided to make his way back to the church, but when he got to the doors it was like he was pushing against a wall. The doors had become an elaborate decoration. "So this is what she meant… This is very tricky da."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After the commotion with Francis turning out to be come kind of zombie the group and returned to the church. When they told everyone what had happened everyone was shocked.

"What the hell do you mean he's dead?" Snapped Gilbert. "Who the fuck could he just be dead?"

"Dude, he had no organs!" Snapped Alfred right back. "We saw it, he was just skin, bones and blood. No organs inside him at all. It was like he was gutted and stuffed."

"How long has he been like that?" Asked Kiku curiously.

Yao shrugged. "A few days by the look of it… During that time did anyone actually see him eat anything?" No one answered. "Hey, where's Ivan, aru?"

"He went for a walk." Said Antonio. "Said he was going to go to the school."

"And you just let him go?" Asked Yao in shock. Ivan was amazingly strong and had one hell of a dark and violent side. If there was one person they would need alive to help kill monsters it would be him. "Why would you just let him go?"

"What in their right mind would attack him?" Asked Ludwig.

"… He does have a point." Said Alfred. "Ivan's a fucking psychopath. I'm more worried about anything that Ivan decides to attack." There was a small chuckle that echoed around the group. If Ivan really wanted to kill something he would do it. The witches didn't know what they were in for.

Yao didn't seem that convinced though. He thought Ivan was fucking scary at times, but he was still human, well as human as a country could be. He sighed, picked up his spear and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Asked Feliciano.

Yao sighed. "I'm going to find Ivan. Just because he can be a crazy killing machine when he needs to be, he might still need help. You said he was at the school right?" Antonio nodded. "That's pretty close to the hospital… If I'm not back with Ivan within two days be realistic and assume the worst."

"Be careful…" Said Arthur. "We don't want anyone else to die."

"I know." Said Yao. He pushed open the doors of the church and walked off to the school.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After attempting to break down the doors and windows of the school to no avail, Ivan just decided to look around the place to see what he could find. He searched the cafeteria only to find empty boxes, tins and rotten food. There was nothing to eat.

'_Do they plan to starve me?_' He wondered. '_Just try. Pretty much anything organic is edible. Not always a good thing to eat, but it's still better than nothing at the moment._'

"Ivan?" Called a voice. "Where are you?" Ivan frowned. It sounded like Yao, but it was probably a trick the witches were trying to pull so he just ignored it. But he could soon hear the sound of footsteps coming towards him. Being cautious he quickly hid himself to make sure that he could see whatever was after calling for him when it passed.

He was mildly relieved when Yao walked into the room. Ivan moved out of his hiding place and smiled a little. He still wasn't sure if this was a trick. "Hello Yao."

Yao smiled happily. "Thank goodness I found you. This school is so big, aru. So let's go back to the church."

"We can't." Said Ivan. "The doors are bewitched. I'm guessing that since you were able to get in here they are one way da?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Yao in confusion.

Ivan smiled and walked over to a window. "Allow me to demonstrate, da?" He raised his pipe high into the air and slammed it into the glass with more than enough force to shatter it, but the glass didn't even crack. "I can't break through it. Neko's the one that did it."

Yao frowned and crossed his arms. "Damn it… So not only did they get Francis they have us trapped here too…"

"Francis is dead?" Asked Ivan in mild shock. "What happened to him?"

"He's dead." Said Yao. "Or at least he has been for a few days now… We found his organs in that cave and we cracked his skull open…" He shuddered at the memory. "He was just skin, bones and blood. The witches gutted him and made him their puppet."

"That's disgusting." Muttered Ivan. "Well, seeing as how we can't get out of here just yet I guess there's only one thing we can do…"

"What's that?"

"Try to look for clues as to who or what The Beast is and maybe try to find out how to destroy it." Said Ivan.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **For some reason I feel like this chapter sucked a lot… Please review!


	13. The Deal

**Shinigami-cat: **And now for some more evil stuff to happen… I OWN NOTHING!

**The Deal**

It had been hours since Ivan and Yao disappeared into the school, that is assuming they made it that far, and once again everyone was pretty much doing their own thing. It was annoying to watch everyone bicker about the next move and to toss around theories about this and that, so Gilbert retreated to the bell tower.

It was quitter up there than anywhere else. He sighed a little to himself as he thought about those totems. '_If I had one of them I could be relatively safe, but I don't really need one because I'm awesome…_' He thought back to when he thought he saw Matthew die in front of him. '_Shit… If I find one of those totems I'm giving it to Matthew._'

There was no way in hell he was going to let Matthew die. He could still clearly remember the dead look in his eyes and it scared him. "Damn it…"

"Still beating yourself up over that I see." Said Lapin sadly.

Gilbert jumped in surprise and looked down at the witch who was happily standing on a gargoyle. "What the fuck do you want bitch?" Snapped the albino darkly.

Lapin held her hands up in mild defence. "Calm down. I'm not aggressive like my sister. I just came to talk to you because you seemed lonely… I'll just get going if you don't want my company or a chance to make sure Canada lives." She turned around and jumped.

"WAIT!" Yelled Gilbert. "COME BACK!"

Lapin smirked and stopped mid-jump. She turned and seemed to walk up an invisible flight of steps back to onto the roof. "So I'm guessing you want to talk? That's good. I'm always happy to talk to people."

Gilbert glared at the child. He knew he couldn't trust her as far as he could throw her, but he wanted to know what she was talking about. "What did you mean I could save Matthew?"

"Quite simple really." Said Lapin happily. "There are two totems, one black can and one white rabbit. The rabbit is in the office building and the cat is in the school. But there is another more powerful totem. It's so powerful that The Beast broke it into six pieces; two arms, two legs, the body and the head. Apart the pieces are useless, but together the doll rivals The Beast's power."

No one had mentioned anything about a doll before. "Explain."

"Certainly." Said Lapin with a smile. "In the beginning The Beast had a doll and put some of her power into it, but over time things happened and a powerful magician put some of his magic into it. With it he planned to use its magic against The Beast and escape the island. It almost worked… almost. The Beast was able to shatter the doll and ripped the magician to shreds. Since then The Beast has always kept the pieces separate so no one could attempt that again."

"Why are you telling me this?" Asked Gilbert. That seemed like pretty important information to just give away like that.

Lapin shrugged. "Because no one has bothered to find all the pieces before… and because the head of the doll is the only piece not attached to the body yet, and said body is hidden somewhere in the church and the head is in the office building."

"Interesting…" Muttered Gilbert. "But I know you just want to trick me into looking for that stuff on my own, besides why would you want to cripple your own masters power?"

Lapin shrugged. "Well, she needs to do a little toughening up. That's all. She hardly ever flexes her power these days. She needs a challenge."

"So you basically want me to give her some exercise?" Asked Gilbert in disbelief. "No thanks. You do that yourself."

Lapin chuckled a little and swayed slightly in the breeze. "Lay your head down child. I won't let the bogyman come. Count the bodies like sheep to the rhythm of war drums. Head down go to sleep to the rhythm of the war drums."

"And you're quoting a song because?" Asked Gilbert.

Lapin shrugged. "Because I can. It's a good song, and it says some very important things that The Beast believes in."

"What the hell might those be?"

"I can sum it up in one verse." Said Lapin happily. "I'll be the one to protect you from, your enemies and all your demons. I'll be the one to protect you from a will to survive and a voice of reason. I'll be the one to protect you from your enemies and your choices son. One and the same I must isolate you, isolate and save you from yourself."

"That makes no sense!" Snapped Gilbert in frustration. "You stupid witches and that fucking bitch you call The Beast… Hell I might as well call it The Beast 666! That's what it fucking is! Screw your bullshit about that thing wanting to protect us! That's shit!"

Lapin shrugged and sat down on the roof. "I guess so… But it's very rude to call The Beast the devil. That's just not nice."

"Well what the hell do I call her then?" Growled Gilbert darkly. He had half a mind to jump onto the roof and strangle her.

"The Beast." Said Lapin. "Simple as that… Oh look we're off topic again… Are you going to look for the totems or not?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Please. The second I step outside this church you're going to fry me."

"Not if we make a deal…" Said Lapin happily. "If you go to the office block alone to retrieve the head of the doll I won't let my monsters attack you. You'll just have to watch out for those pesky memory pulses… What do you say? Do we have a deal? Remember this deal could save Matthew's life, yours and everyone else who is still alive."

Gilbert frowned a little as he thought about the pros and cons of the deal. When he really thought about it, he knew he could only make once choice. "Deal."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Ivan was crouching in the hallway that was filled with the writings scratched into the walls. Many of them were desperate pleas, quickly carved into the wood, while others seemed more fluid and succinct. It seemed as though more people than them had gotten trapped here.

"Do you have any theories about what happened here?" Asked Ivan.

"What do you mean?" Asked Yao.

Ivan smiled a little. "I mean what happened to the people that lived on this island. Do you think that The Beast destroyed them all? Do you even have any idea why The Beast became The Beast?"

Yao shrugged as he looked over some of the other writings on the wall. "Well… I can take a guess of what happened with The Beast that's as good as any other guess. She could have been sexually abused by someone or a few people or something and was murdered or committed suicide. She could have just been a harlequin child and blamed the rest of the world for her suffering."

Ivan cringed a little. "Those are those kids that grow skin really quickly, da?"

"Yes…" Muttered Yao. He shuddered. "I don't know what would be worse; being raped or not being able to move because of the blistering pain of cracked and dried skin… Both are too horrible." Ivan nodded in agreement as he continued to look at the scratch marks. The all said basically the same thing.

_I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!_

_Please forgive me!_

_I don't want to die!_

_I'm sorry for everything!_

_I'm sorry! Please forgive me!_

_It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!_

_Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!_

_Why are you doing this? _

_What did I do?_

He couldn't help but feel sorry for the people that had passed away because of The Beast and the witches. They must have been terrified and died in horrible pain. It must have been a horrible way to die. He didn't wish that fate on anyone.

"This is horrible…" Muttered Ivan. "Do you think we should look in a different room Yao? …Yao?" He turned to look at his Chinese friend.

Yao was just standing there, facing the wall. His hand was pressed against some Chinese characters that were carved into the wall. Yao just looked spaced out, like he was in a world of his own.

Ivan frowned and walked over to him. "Yao? Are you okay?"

Yao dropped his spear and started breathing heavily as he slowly raised his hands to his throat. Before Ivan realized what was happening, Yao started to strangle himself. He gasped for air as his fingers dug into his own flesh.

"YAO!" Cried Ivan in shock. He grabbed the smaller man's arms and tried to pull them away from his neck, but that just made Yao's grip tighten. Eventually his grip loosened due to the lack of oxygen and he fell to the ground in a heap. After a few seconds on violent convulsions Yao sat up and gasped for air. He was shaking horribly.

"W-what the hell just happened?" He cried out in fear.

"You started to strangle yourself." Said Ivan in a calm but firm tone. "What happened? Why did you do that? Oh no, you're neck is bleeding…" There were little crescent moon shaped marks in Yao's neck from where his nails had dug into his flesh. Luckily the injuries weren't life threatening.

Yao gulped a little and touched his neck. "I think… I think I touched a memory pulse…"

This peeked Ivan's interest. If that's what happened to someone physically while they were experiencing this phenomenon, then what happened mentally? Ivan wanted to know. "What did you see?"

Yao shuddered a little and began a detailed recount about how they continued to search through every room in the building and how they did that for two days before starting to become dehydrated and hungry. He mentioned that when they started to starve the building became deserted on the monsters, like the witches knew of their state and denied them the one thing they really needed. A source of food.

"We played rock, paper, scissors… Winner eats loser and… I won." Muttered Yao quietly. He didn't do into any more detail and left it at that. "I thought for sure that it was real… It just seemed to fit so perfecting into this reality…"

"That's just what they do." Said Ivan calmly. "These witches try their hardest to torment us and break us. Don't let them break you."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Snapped Yao in rage. "Those witches didn't make these deaths up! Have you forgotten that those memory pulses were someone's memories? Someone actually ate their friend, Ivan! Those witches forced two people to commit cannibalism, and I lived through it!"

"Calm down, Yao." Said Ivan quickly. He didn't want Yao to start freaking out. If he did that it wouldn't be any help to either of them.

Yao on the other hand didn't seem like he was calming down any time soon. "I had to live through eating someone!" Snapped Yao, tears were starting to fill his eyes. "It was disgusting… to think that the meat I was eating was once a person I was talking to only minutes before… How the hell can I be calm about that?"

"Because it didn't happen to you." Said Ivan logically. "The witches are trying to break you. Sure it actually happened to someone, but it didn't really happen to you. They just want us to suffer for no reason. Why are we here anyway? Why do they want us to suffer? Who is The Beast? How do we get out of here alive? Those are the questions you need to focus on. Not; why did it happen to me?"

Yao frowned and looked away from the younger nation. He wanted to scold him for talking to him like a child, but he didn't. Instead he calmly stood up and grabbed his spear. "My neck is itchy… We should try to find the infirmary… There might be rubbing alcohol in there we could use later on and other things…"

Ivan smiled a little and nodded. "Da, good thinking. Let's go."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

It was surprisingly easy for Gilbert to find the doll body. It wasn't as well hidden as one might have thought. It was in the back room inside a box of old toys that seemed to be on their way to some kind of charity.

The doll itself was nothing too special; it was the size of a polly pocket doll, made of plastic that was warped and burnt in several places, the red dress itself was made out of some kind of red leather. He hoped it wasn't human skin, but he doubted that it wasn't.

He easily slipped the doll into his pocket and walked back into the room where everyone was. At the moment Feliciano was sitting by a fire made by one of the group and quietly chatted to Kiku, who seemed to be cooking some meat for everyone to eat.

He decided that if he was going to leave and find this doll head he would do it later that night. With a small sigh he sat down next to his brother and waited in silence for the meat to finish cooking.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **And yeah… this is not going to end well for anyone… Please review?


	14. Lies

**Shinigami-cat: **Now I think it's time for some drama… I OWN NOTHING!

**Lies**

Ever since the group had gotten back, Arthur continued to read the journal to see what else he could find. He hoped for some clues as to what their purpose on the island was. So far he had nothing. He had less than nothing. It was annoying him to no end. That was until one entry caught his eye.

Arthur frowned as he looked over the entry. The writing was loopy and reminded him of Francis's writing, but the paper was old and warn. There was no way it was the Frenchmen's handwriting. But enough about the flow of the writing it was the words that chilled him to his core.

_I'm scared. I'm terrified. They are all dead. I'm the only one left… But even as I try to survive for them I can't help but feel that I'm slowly losing my mind. The witches keep appearing and talking to me. They tell me that I'm going to join my friends with The Beast soon. They tell me I'm already possessed by The Beast. They say that I can't stop it… I believe them._

_Night after night I hear The Beast whispering into my ear. Telling me what I should do… Telling me where to go… Sometimes The Beast possesses me while I'm awake. I keep writing down things that terrify me. I'll start writing a sentence then I'll just blank out and start_

_**I want to see that scared face of yours. I will keep dragging you into my nightmare. I want to see you running away. I want to see you scream in fear and beg for mercy. I want to see you realize your sins. Until then I will keep dragging you into my nightmare. I want to destroy your soul over and over again. I want to erase your living soul. But even so, you follow me. You love me. I love the 'you' who is in love with me.**_

_writing The Beasts words… Like just then. I'm scared. I'm going insane. I can't survive alone like this… Tomorrow I'll try to kill the witches and The Beast below… I hope that if I fail and someone finds this note that it can be of some help. No one deserves to die in this hell. No one. No one. No one. _

_**No one can come to my island without sin. Those who live on my island are sinners. I want to kill those sinners. I want to watch them die forever. I will watch them die forever and ever and ever and ever. You will never blame me for your deaths. It's your own fault. How dare you do this to me.**_

_No one. No one. No one. No one. No one will leave here alive. The Beast is the only law here. The Beast is all powerful. _

_**As I should be. I am more powerful than you can imagine. You cannot kill me. I will kill you. The monsters are simply an extension of my own existence. I will make you bleed. I will make you scream. No one leaves my island alive.**_

Arthur closed the book and shuddered. Whoever that person was, was definitely suffering some kind of mental trauma. They had snapped. But even so, if The Beast really possessed that person some vital clues had been left for them. It was more than likely that The Beast considered themselves to be some kind of divine judge or some sort. It was scary but true.

He sighed and put the book down. '_Damn it… This is too complicated… Shit everyone else is asleep._' He yawned a little and let sleep overtake him.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

With Arthur finally asleep Gilbert decided to act. He slowly stood up and grabbed his gun before walking to the bell tower. Once he was at the top of it, it was easy enough for him to scale across the roof and down the side of the church, landing on the ground with a small crunch.

"Ja… I can do this…" He said happily. "No problem… Just need to find a creepy doll head and attach it to the body… This is probably not going to end well for me… Screw it. If I don't do it what we will definitely die, with this we might have some chance, maybe."

It didn't take him too long to make it to the office building. With no monsters in his way it was almost too easy. He smiled a little and walked into the grey building, letting the doors snap shut behind him.

The building was so cold and quiet, it was creepy. With a small gulp he started to look through the empty building The first few rooms on the bottom floor were empty and had little to nothing of much value. He was going to look through the basement of the building, but decided against that when he saw that it was flooded. He didn't feel like getting soaked to the bone.

So he travelled up to the second floor. The halls were streaked with thick amounts of dried blood and there were partial prints of bodies on the floor made out with the blood and hands streaked the walls and the floor like someone was being dragged away.

Gilbert shivered a little and opened up a door to what looked like a break room. There was an over turned table, a few empty shelves and a broken coffee pot. He walked into the room and sighed. "I guess I could start looking here…" He turned around and closed the door, immediately regretting that decision. Scribbled on the back of the door were three words.

_She's watching you_

That was one creepy message, but if that wasn't creepy enough there was a hastily scribbled message in blood under it. The blood had flaked away years ago but the wood was still stained. It showed the image of a circle and the numbers 666 were written inside it. Perhaps it meant that The Beast was watching or something just as evil.

Gilbert sighed a little and moved a little closer to the scratch marks. These were made by nails. He would easily see a ripped nail embedded in the wood. He picked it out and looked at it, almost as if the fingernail could answer his questions for him. He sighed and dropped it. It was just a nail. He then decided to leave the room and try to find the doll head in another room. It had to be somewhere in there.

He opened up one door and frowned. There was piano wire strung tightly from every corner of the room was a spider web. It was strung so tightly that it could probably cut through skin and flesh. It didn't help that there was blood all over the walls and floor of that room. It was freaky.

"Gross…" Muttered Gilbert in disgust. "Were people just thrown in here and shredded? What a horrible way to die." He closed the door and continued to look inside rooms for the doll head. It was annoying.

As he made his way to the third floor he heard something moving around the first floor from the staircase. He paused for a second and swore under his breath. "Fuck… I guess Lapin wants me to hurry the fuck up or something…" A small smile crept onto his face. "Then again it was getting really boring, just walking around all alone… Killing a monster should liven things up a little."

He took a few empty shells out of his pocket and threw them down the steps. The clack of the shells hitting against the concrete steps was loud enough to echo. Hopefully it would lure whatever monster that was out there towards him.

The clatter seemed to get that things attention because Gilbert heard footsteps coming towards him. He smirked and quickly ran up the last few steps and slammed the door shut. Once that was done, he pointed his gun at the door and waited for the monster to appear. After a minute the door opened and Gilbert pulled the trigger. He was just lucky that saw who it was and missed killing them by a few precious millimetres.

"What the fucking hell are you doing here, Birdie?" Snapped Gilbert in frustration.

The blond just stood there stunned for a few seconds, but he quickly pulled himself out of his state of shock and glared at Gilbert, "What the hell Gilbert?" Snapped Matthew in frustration. "You just ran off for no reason! You heard Arthur, we can't be alone! Why didn't you tell me or even your brother that you were coming here?"

"I have my reasons." Said Gilbert. He pointed his gun to the fire escape. "Go back to the church. It's not safe for you here."

Matthew rolled his eyes and knocked the gun away with his bat. "And it's safe for you? Get real Gil, none of us are safe here." There was no way he was leaving Gilbert.

The albino sighed in defeat. "Fine! You can stay with me, but you have to be careful!"

"Fine..." Muttered Matthew. "Why are you here anyway?"

Gilbert frowned and looked away. "Just stuff… I was kind of looking for… the island totems…"

"Gilbert…" Groaned Matthew. "We all agreed not to look for them… Why would you look for them?"

Gilbert gritted his teeth a little and started to look through rooms. "Look. I just know if I find this thing I can stop this shit from happening and we can get out of here…"

"And who told you that eh?" Asked Matthew as he followed Gilbert. "One of the witches or something?"

"Pretty much." Said Gilbert as he slammed a door shut. He could tell that Matthew was pissed beyond belief.

"One of the witches told you?" Asked Matthew in disbelief. "Well that just makes everything all better doesn't it? You can't trust them Gilbert! The witches just want to split us up and kill us one by one! We both need to get back to the church!"

"Well I think out of both the witches and The Beast I can trust Lapin!" Snapped Gilbert. He honestly thought that she was probably the most trustworthy of that trio, but he didn't trust that brat as far as he could throw her. "We'll head back after I check at least one more room."

He opened the door and looked inside; one side of the room had a desk and a rather large hole in it and the other side had several boxes and broken cabinets. Gilbert quickly walked into the room and started to look through them.

He heard Matthew walk in behind him and sighed. "Gil… you're not going to find anything here, we should just go… You don't even know of the totem is here. Why do you want it anyway?"

Gilbert bit his bottom lip a little. "When I get the totem… I'm going to give it to you… It really scared me when I saw you die before… even if it wasn't really you. I don't want that to ever happen again because I… I really like you. You're awesome." He mentally cursed himself for not actually getting the words out. But he soon forgot about that when he actually found the doll head. He grinned and quickly attached it to the body. Now what?

"Gil… That's so swe- LOOK OUT!" Cried Matthew.

Gilbert looked up in time to see a tiny little Anxiety waddling out from behind the desk and spit. The albino gasped a little and ducked, dropping the doll in the process. The thick, black acid from the Anxiety easily ate through the wall like it wasn't even there.

Gilbert growled and shot the Anxiety several times. He did not appreciate getting corrosive acid spat at him for no damn reason. The Anxiety wobbled and fell over.

"They aren't so tough." Muttered Gilbert before he turned around to try and find where he dropped the doll.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Matthew had to admit it. Gilbert was one heck of a shot. The albino wasn't really paying much attention to the now dead Anxiety on the floor. In fact he had his back to it. Matthew was about to go over to Gilbert to see what he was doing when he noticed that the Anxiety was starting to move again, delivering one final acid attack… directed right at Gilbert.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert had the wind knocked out of him when Matthew threw himself at him. He was digging his nails into his shoulders and standing as still as a statue, like he was bracing for an attack. "Gilbert… Are you okay?" He managed to choke out through clenched teeth.

Gilbert nodded. His heart was pounding painfully in his chest, like something horrible had just happened. "Matthew… what happened? Let me go for a second."

Matthew shook his head and pressed his face into the back of Gilbert's shirt. "I'm sorry Gilbert. I'm so, so sorry… It looks like we aren't getting out of here together after all… None of us are leaving here alive…" He coughed and spluttered a little. "I'm sorry."

Gilbert's eyes went wide with fear. The stench of rotting meat and acid was starting to fill his nose. "Birdie?"

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Matthew let go of Gilbert's shirt and fell to the floor with a thump. Gilbert quickly turned around and gasped in horror; Matthew was lying dead on the ground. His body was split in half by Anxiety's acid that was still eating away at his flesh. There was blood flowing out of his mouth and his eyes were filled with tears turning pink from the burst blood vessels in his eyes.

Gilbert clutched his hands over his mouth. "No…" He whispered. "This… This can't be happening again… Not again!"

"But it can't be helped…" Said Lapin dreamily. She was sitting on top of a desk with a wicked grin on her face. "It's a process that continues over and over again. How does it feel to see him die again?"

"How could you?" Hissed Gilbert darkly. "Matthew… You said that if I found the doll's head he would be alright! You said that he would be fine! You lied to me! HOW DARE YOU KILL HIM!" He screamed. "HOW DARE YOU KILL MATTHEW!"

A sick, twisted grin stretched over Lapin's face as a dark mist clouded her eyes. "Don't you remember the agreement? You had to look for the doll yourself. As in with no one with you. The deal was off as soon as Matthew followed you here." He couldn't believe it. How could this be happening to him? He didn't understand. Lapin picked up the dropped doll and smiled sweetly. "Thanks for the doll." With a grin she set it on fire, letting the ashes fall to the ground.

"Why?" Asked Gilbert quietly. "Why are you doing this? Why are you making us suffer? What's it all for?"

Lapin shrugged. "It can't be helped. Those who cause suffering for others must suffer for their actions. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and a life for a life… And since you have sort of completed sort of fail what I asked you to do… We no longer have an agreement. Goodbye."

With the click of her fingers the floor beneath Gilbert's feet cracked and fell away. In the room below was the room filled with razor sharp piano wire. Gilbert screamed as he fell into the room. He didn't even feel it when the wires cut off his arms and legs or when the wire cut through his middle. He fell to the ground in a bloody heap.

'_I don't want to die… Not like this… Not a cowards death…I'm sorry Matthew… I'm so sorry…_ _Everyone, I'm so sorry…_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Neko happily hummed to herself as she watered a plant. This was an unusual plant, it was about as tall as a small tree and produced strange blue-purple pods. At the moment there were only two growing. "So pretty…" She murmured. "Pretty plant pods from the earth." Suddenly her sister walked in and collapsed on the sofa, sighing dramatically.

"What a day…" She said. When Neko gave no response Lapin sighed louder and louder.

Eventually Neko put down her watering can and glared at Lapin. "What?"

"I killed two people today and I burnt The Beast's doll for her." Said Lapin. "Now she doesn't have to worry about that anymore, which is good."

Neko chuckled and started to prune the plant. "Still trying to get into her good books? Who did you kill?"

"Canada and Prussia." Muttered Lapin. "Canada got acid all over his back and quite literally fall apart. Prussia fell into your piano wire trap and got shredded."

"… Lovely." Said Neko. "Damn it… I picked Canada for being in the top five to survive… and Prussia to go bat shit and murder people… Have you seen The Beast lately? She's gone walkabout."

Lapin shook her head. "I have no idea where she is… But it's not like she can walk too far without actual legs and the wheelchair can only push her so far… Can you help me collect their bodies? I don't do well with decapitation."

"Sorry sweet heart." Said Neko. "But I have stuff to do. You have any idea how difficult it is to make imitation French escargot? I have to cut up the meat all tinny and stuff it into snail shells and stuff garlic and butter in with it…"

"You are just lazy." Muttered Lapin miserably. "I've been doing all the deceiving work and stuff while you've been looking after the plant."

Neko rolled her eyes and gently patted the plant pods. "This is important work. The Beast says that the plant is just as important as this game of suffering we manage and maintain… So go get the bodies and I'll cook up the next four that come our way, not including France."

Lapin considered it for a moment. "Fine… But you better not be lying."

"Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye." Said Neko with a smile. She turned her attention back to the plant and smiled happily. "Such a pretty plant… you hold such hope for us all… Don't disappoint."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **And I just killed my OTP… Damn it… please review!


	15. One, Two, Three

**Shinigami-cat: **So I guess there isn't much to say about this, but I guess it's time to move onto the next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**One, Two, Three**

It was raining now. The little girl had nowhere to run. If she tried to venture out into the rain she could get swept away. Not that it was a bad thing. She would have gladly left this existence for good if she could. In the background she could hear the muddled hiss of the news about this and that. The hot topic was on how there were more natural disasters happening in the past decade alone than in the past century.

The little girl rolled her eyes. "In the end it's always someone else's business isn't it? It's not fair… None of it is fair…" She pushed open the window and crawled out. The cold rain soaked her bandages to the point where they became so water logged that they fell off to revel her rotting flesh and burnt skin. She looked out over the city she was in and sighed sadly.

The sky was grey and disgusting. It was the colour of smoke and pollution. This was not the sky on a true rainy day. The sky would have been a cleaner grey. A beautiful grey. Like her, this world was rotting. But unlike the world she wasn't going to stay around for people to abuse anymore.

She pulled herself onto the fire escape and just started climbing up. She wanted to get as high as possible. It didn't matter to her if she was already on the tenth floor of the building, she needed to get higher.

After much pain on her part she had made it to the roof. With a smile she climbed up onto the edge and looked out over everything that there was. It was all grey and black in her eyes. It was as if someone had put a filter over eyes to make the world seem horrible and dull. She couldn't stand it. This place, this world needed colour. Even if it was her own red blood.

She smiled a little and closed her eyes. Now was the time for it all to end. She leaned forwards and let gravity carry her down, like one of the many raindrops that were already falling towards the pavement. Perhaps now she could get some peace.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The Beast woke up startled. She was laying down on the floor in some building. '_What happened? Where am I? Oh… That's right I went to the school… Where is my wheelchair?_'

With confusion The Beast looked around the room with her one good eye. She was laying on the concrete floor, probably the basement of the place. He wheel chair was broken and mangled. It was terrible, but The Beast couldn't worry about that. She could smell fresh meat and she was starving. With a twisted grin she started to drag herself to the exit. She was starving so badly. She would eat anything, dead or alive.

"I'm hungry…" She growled out. Her tongue had healed properly so she could actually speak without fumbling her words. "I need to eat… Consume… Consume… Consume…"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Ivan sighed a little as he continued to look through classrooms with Yao. He had no idea what he was looking for anymore. He wanted to find information on The Beast, but couldn't find anything useful anywhere. It was annoying. Yao wasn't having much luck finding anything either and they were both starting to worry about food.

There was nothing for them to eat and it was worrying. They couldn't even find any water to drink either. But that wasn't entirely true, there was water to drink, but it was dirty and could make them sick. Nothing was going to be made easy for them.

"Maybe we should look in a different room?" Suggested Yao.

Ivan nodded in agreement. "Da, sounds like a good idea." They exited the small classroom and walked into the next room. This place was an infirmary. There were a few beds on one side and a cabinet of medicines in one corner. This place looked relatively okay. Which was odd because the rest of the place looked horrible.

"Let's leave this room, aru…" Muttered Yao. "I don't like this place…" Ivan nodded in agreement. This place just had some odd feel to it, like something bad happened there or was going to happen.

"Okay, just let me have a look around." Said Ivan. "There might be something useful in here…" He quickly looked in the medicine cabinet, not surprised to find that it was locked, but he could see some rubbing alcohol in it. It was a father large bottle too. Probably used to fill smaller ones. The cabinet was locked so he couldn't get into it. That was disappointing, but he didn't mind. If he really needed to he could smash it open later.

He then quickly looked through the nurse's desk finding a box of matches. He quickly pocketed them and had another look to see if he could find anything else. After looking through the draws a second time he found an envelope. It was sealed and seemed to have something inside it. Curiosity got the better of him and he opened it. The letter inside was coloured brown with age. Ivan frowned and picked up the letter. Just from reading the first paragraph he couldn't help but feel like it sounded familiar somehow. Then he remembered, Yao had talked about the exact same thing when he had touched a memory pulse.

_Today I ate my friend… What was I supposed to do? We were starving and nothing we did could open the doors or shatter the windows. We were starving and there was no food at all, so we decided together that one of us should stay alive a little longer… One of us had to try and defy fate and kill those witches. If I ever escape I'll tell everyone about what's happened here… _

_We played a game to decide. Rock-paper-scissors. Winner eats loser. I won. I felt his blood going down my throat, quenching my thirst. His meat was surprisingly soft and tender. But that blood and meat was once my friend. Up until a few hours ago we just sat next to each other and talked. Where did those carefree days go?_

_As I feasted I began thinking; this food used to be a person. Before I tore it up it was alive… Every time I thought about that I started crying and just couldn't stop. I wanted some part of him to stay with me forever, even after he had died. So I decided to keep one of his eyeballs… And I thought if I write this down, I might be able to preserve whatever sanity I have left._

This was probably the poor man's last testimony before he died. It was terrible, but there was nothing Ivan could do. Nothing any of them could do. '_I wonder…_' Thought Ivan. '_Is it fated for anyone who enters this school to starve to death?_'

"Are you done yet, aru?" Asked Yao. He seemed a little agitated.

Ivan nodded and left the letter back in the drawer. "Yeah, I'm ready to go… We should keep looking for food… or something. Water would be best." The human body could survive days without food, but water was a must. The same could be said for countries. Although they couldn't die from starvation or dehydration, they needed those things to stay conscious. The only other difference between them and human in this situation was that they could survive twice as long without either of those things or at least one them.

When they were out in the hall Yao sighed sadly. "Why did you come here Ivan? There's nothing here but death…"

"I thought that there might be some clues here as to who or what The Beast was." Said Ivan simply. "But I guess my new goal is to leave here and never return… If I ever leave this place I hope to forget about this whole experience."

Yao nodded in agreement. "Yeah… You know, I never thought a country could die the ways that Lovino had or Francis did… We are not made to die easily…"

"I know." Said Ivan. "I have been shot and stabbed many times myself… The fact that these witches can kill us so easily is… unsettling to say the least… I wonder if they have gotten anyone else?"

Yao shrugged as he continued to walk down the hall. "If anyone else has died… That would be horrible, aru. But there is nothing we can do right now. Our top priority is to survive."

"… Ever wonder what might happen to our people if we die unexpectedly?" Asked Ivan curiously. "Back in the day if a country was taken over they would die and the people would become part of another nation, but we aren't dying naturally like a country should. We are getting murdered."

"I don't know." Muttered Yao. "And that is what scares me more than anything in the world." His stomach growled loud enough for both of them to hear. "… I guess I'm hungrier than I thought…"

"Consume…" Growled a voice from the darked end of the hallway making both nations freeze in their tracks. "Hungry… Starving… Food… I must eat… Must eat now…" They both looked down into the darkness and were confronted with something horrific.

It was a little girl. She was crawling towards them at a slow pace; her nails digging into the wooden floorboards, long brown hair tangled and in clumps, blood and puss leaking out of her eyes socket while her other bloodshot eye glared at them with hunger, her mouth hung open showing off her stitch covered tongue, patches of her skin looked burnt and rotting and as she dragged herself along the floor she left a trail of blood from her stump leg.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Cried Yao in shock.

Ivan frowned a little and firmly gripped his pipe. "Are you the creature known as The Beast?"

The little girl stopped moving for a moment and tilted her head to the side in mild confusion. "You've heard of me…"

Ivan nodded and took a few steps closer to her. "Da, but I do wonder why someone who is supposed to be the villain of this island, why do you take on the form of a weak little girl? You could be something much stronger and more intimidating than a corpse."

"That may be true…" Growled The Beast. "But you al deserve to die at the hands of what you abused and destroyed." With that The Beast leapt forwards at Ivan, teeth and claws at the ready. But Ivan expected this and swung his pipe, making direct contact with The Beast's temple, taking a large chunk out of her head and splattering it all over the walls and floor. The Beast didn't die. Instead she growled darkly and shook a little as she crawled towards them. "You can't kill me… I've died a million lifetimes ago… Consume… COMSUME!"

Ivan growled in slight annoyance and ran away from the creature, grabbing Yao's arm as he ran. "We have to get away from her!"

"Just smash her head in!" Snapped Yao. "You can kill her easily! Just keep hitting her damn it!"

Ivan shrugged. "If that hit didn't even phase her it doesn't matter how many times I hit her. She's going to live!"

"COMSUME! CONSUME!"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"Where the hell is Matthew?" Cried Alfred in a panic. "And where's Gilbert?" The group had woken up not too long ago to Alfred's frantic cries. Since the pair couldn't be found at the church it could only be assumed that they had left the safety of its walls. No one knew why. "That's it! I'm going to find Matthew!" Snapped Alfred.

"You can't leave!" Snapped Arthur. "That's just what those witches want! If you leave they will get you too! And how do we know that the witches even have them?"

"Arthur-san is right." Said Kiku. "If Matthew-kun is with Gilbert-kun they should be alright. You can't give up hope."

Without warning a brick got throw through the window of the church. It had a small package and a note attached to it. Since Antonio was the closest he picked it up and opened it. He read the note first and gulped. "I… it says we can abandon hope now…" He opened up the package inside were Matthew's broken and bloodied glasses and Gilbert's scuffed iron cross.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Those witches are just evil at the best of times aren't they and so is The Beast… Please Review!


	16. BBQ

**Shinigami-cat: **And now for more blood and mayhem… I OWN NOTHING!

**BBQ**

The Beast growled deeply in her throat as she propped herself against the wall. Blood and some chunks of brain tissue were falling out of her new wound. "Should have expected as much from the Russian… Next time I'll be careful… Next time I will kill him… Where the hell did they go?"

"Found you Beast!" Cheered Neko happily as she skipped down the hall. "Hey, I found her Lapin!"

Lapin quickly appeared and ran over to The Beast. "Oh no! What happened to you? Your head… Was it China or Russia?"

"Obviously Russia." Said Neko coldly. She spat out in the floor and hissed spitefully. "That bastard… Does he even know what he's done? Of course not. That drunken asshole deserves to get murdered for that random act of violence… I'll make him go so insane that he kills himself!"

"No!" Said Lapin calmly. "Let me do it… My monsters haven't gotten much exercise and the only one that managed to kill someone… ended up getting shot repeatedly…"

"Who died?" Asked The Beast curiously.

"Prussia and Canada." Said Lapin happily. "So not only do you have French food, you have Canadian and Prussian too. You'll be stuffed." She grabbed some bandages and started to wrap them around The Beast's head.

The Beast frowned a little and nodded. "Yes… It would be nice to be full again and to get rid of this burning hunger… I need to consume them… Kill every last one of them… What the earth gives the earth takes away… How's my plant going?"

Neko grinned happily. "Perfect. Couldn't look more healthy. The pod are positively swelling or something… And before we came here two more pods were starting to form."

The Beast nodded. "I see…" She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "They are on the floor above… Kill them."

Lapin nodded and touched the wall. A dark shadow spilled out of her hand and branched out, creeping into the darkest parts of the hall. Eventually doll arms, legs, torsos and head spilled out of the cracks, melding together in a wave of macabre horror. It slithered down the hall and up the steps to find Ivan and Yao.

When it was gone Neko smiled a little. "Well… as much as I would love to watch them all kick the bucket I have to make sure the plant is okay… and I want to drop in on the people at the church, see how they are going after I gave them a little gift…"

"The glasses and the iron cross?" Asked Lapin unimpressed. "You didn't need to do that. They are going to just get angry and more violent."

"And the violence will cloud their judgement." Said Neko happily. "After that we just need to plant the bait and pick them off one by one."

The Beast giggled. "This is easier than shooting fish in a barrel… Take me home. I want to eat and check on my plant." Neko nodded and picked up The Best before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Lapin was about to do the same, but changed her mind at the last second. She pressed her hand against the wall sending small but powerful tremors down and around to the base of the building making it structurally unstable. It was only then that she vanished without a trace.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Ivan and Yao were hiding in a small classroom. They were still trying to piece together what they had just seen. The Beast looked like it was made out of body parts and was rotting away like she was dead. It was horrific and unimaginable.

Yao shuddered horribly. "S-she looked like she was in so much pain… What could have happened to her to make her so angry at us? What did we do?"

"As far as I can tell we've done nothing wrong." Said Ivan calmly. "These witches and that thing are just crazy. I see no reason for them to hate us… We are good people, well as good as countries get, but I don't know why they would target us specifically."

Yao shook his head. "I can't take this anymore, aru! I've lived for centuries and have never experienced something so horrific! I just want this all to end! It's like a bad dream…"

"At least we can wake up from bad dreams." Muttered Ivan. "This is more like hell… I wonder if the others have survived up until now or if they are all dead and we are the only ones left."

"I don't want to know…" Muttered Yao. He sighed a little and walked around the room.

There didn't seem to be too much in there but they hoped that there could be something there to help them. Ivan couldn't help but play with the box of matches on his pocket. He was thinking of trying to light The Beast on fire, but he doubted that she would stay still long enough for that to happen. Maybe dousing her in alcohol first would be better.

He smiled a little. '_That might be a good idea. Burning her would be a good idea. Burn that demon spawn back to hell. That's a good idea, da?_' He walked around the room with Yao trying to find something that might help them in their predicament, but it didn't look like they would find anything of value.

"We're going to die here, aren't we?" Asked Yao quietly. He looked totally defeated, like he had given up. This was not something that Ivan was used to seeing in the often proud Chinese man.

"We'll get out of here, Yao." Said Ivan with a small smile. "I'll make sure of that comrade."

Yao sighed a little, not in relief, it just sounded exhausted. "Thank you Ivan… But I don't think there's much point… It's obvious that those creatures what to kill us all without remorse or feeling… It scares me… It's almost like we are at war again."

Ivan nodded in agreement. "Da, but it's almost like the world is against us this time and not one of our fellow nations… We are against a force we neither know or can control." He sighed and walked over to the window. It was starting to rain. "We can't capture the enemy to make them talk because the enemies are not human. The army are the monsters and the witches are the Generals."

Yao scratched his chin in thought. "If you want to think about it that way it's almost like the monsters are the people, the witches are the government and The Beast is the head of the country, the boss… That would make us the invaders or the people the invaders wish to overtake."

"It is easier when you think about it like that…" Muttered Ivan as he ran his fingers over the cold glass of the window. "But since we are in her territory I would say we are the invaders… I would still like to know how we got here."

That was probably one of the biggest mysteries to date. If Ivan remembered correctly they had just finished a world meeting with no conclusion reached. As far as he could remember the main topic was something about the earth. It was either global warming or fossil fuels. After that it was all a little fuzzy, but he remembered that he saw something odd. A little girl holding a stuffed rabbit and cat, walking down the hall of his hotel. He didn't pay her much attention at the time, but now he felt like he had encountered The Beast.

"Yao… did you see a little girl carrying a cat doll and a rabbit doll before you came here?" Asked Ivan.

Yao thought hard for a second. "A little girl… Oh yeah! I remember now! She was sitting on a lounge chair in the foyer… She looked very tired and she was muttering something very rapidly under her breath…"

"Do you know what she was saying?" Asked Ivan. Perhaps it could help them. It was unlikely, but it was worth a shot.

Yao tried to remember but he couldn't. "Does it really matter, aru? We need to just get out of here."

"Because that girl might have been The Beast." Said Ivan calmly. "And if we saw her than we can assume that everyone else here saw her before they came here… She must have done something to us and it could be vitally important that we know what she said."

"I-I can't remember." Whispered Yao, his expression was blank but his eyes were fearful, like he knew something but he couldn't connect the dots.

"Yes you can, Yao." Said Ivan sternly. "I know you can remember, you just have to try."

Yao clutched his head a little. "S-stop it Ivan. I can't remember anything, just stop it, aru! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" Suddenly his eyes went wide with shock. "That's what she was saying… It hurts."

Suddenly there was a thump on the door, shocking the both of them. The held their weapons tightly in preparation for the inevitable fight ahead with whom they assumed was The Beast. What they didn't expect was the swarming mass of monster doll parts that slithered into the room.

"… Well this is new." Muttered Ivan.

The swarm moved forwards, making a strange strangled cry noise as it did so. Ivan moved quickly and smashed his pipe. It didn't even make a dent in the mass. In fact the mass just ignored him and directed its attention to Yao instead.

It lunged at him, trying to grab hold of him, but Yao was able to deflect it with his spear. Ivan didn't understand. It was a mass of the Dolls all joined together. It should have been coming after him, not Yao. If he was going to save Yao he would have to think of something quickly. The swarm picked Yao up and tossed him against the wall, knocking him out.

"Over here!" Called Ivan as he threw a chair at it, getting the swarming masses attention. It was now charging for him. Thinking fast, Ivan ran out of the door and down the steps. The floor boards of the school seemed to be looser than before. Some of the really loose floor boards and cracked and snapped away, leaving gaping holes in the floor.

'_Damn it…_' Thought Ivan bitterly. '_Where the hell can I lose this thing? I can't beat it down, I have to try something else…_' Suddenly his eyes lit up.'_I could burn it, but I need an accelerant… That bottle of rubbing alcohol should do it._'

He ran into the nurses office and smashed the cabinet holding the large glass bottle of rubbing alcohol. With a grin he grabbed it, but as soon as he grabbed the bottle the swarming mass grabbed him, lifting him into the air. Ivan gasped in shock. The mass started to shake Ivan around like a rag doll. Eventually it grabbed him and threw him up against the roof, causing the bottle to smash, soaking both Ivan and the mass in alcohol.

This momentarily stunned the swarming mass, making it drop Ivan onto the ground. Ivan groaned and quickly got to his feet and searched his pockets for the matches. Regretfully, he knew there could only be one out come now. He lit a match and threw it at the mass. It instantly caught on fire and made a high pitched squeal as it thrashed around in pain.

It came as no surprise to Ivan when he himself caught on fire. He attempted to pull off his coat and scarf, but the alcohol had soaked through to his skin. He was burning to death. He screamed in pain as the fire charred and burnt his flesh. Eventually he collapsed dead. The swarming mass died soon after.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Yao groaned a little, rubbing the back of his head. The last thing he remembered was that monstrous mass slammed him into the wall. He slowly got to his feet and looked around. "What the hell just happened, aru?" He muttered. "Ivan? Where are you?"

He slowly stood up, picked up his spear and walked out of the room. He was immediately hit with the stench of charred flesh and some kind of burnt rubber smell. Panic immediately gripped him as he quickly ran towards the source of the smell.

When he got to the nurses office the sight made him dry heave; in one corner was the mass, bubbling and smouldering away in the corner of the room while the charred remains of a human were sprawled out over the floor. For some reason, even though there was definitely a recent fire there, there was no smoke or fire damage outside the room. Yao felt his legs threatening to give out from under him. '_W-what happened?_'

"Such a tragedy isn't it?" Hissed Neko as he grabbed Yao by the shoulders, causing him to jump. This just made Neko laugh. "Calm down China… Russia is just sleeping. Nothing is taken away without giving back, the same way nothing is given without taking something away… But it looks like The Beast will be eating BBQ for dinner tonight. I don't have to cook."

"Why?" Whispered Yao. "Why are you doing this to us? What did we ever do to you?"

Neko giggled a little. "Oh silly, silly boy… It's not what you have done to us, it's what you've done to her. Lapin and I couldn't give two fucks about any of you countries. We only exist to help The Beast. We have no real emotions… Well we do, but it's not really that important."

"You two are like Yin and Yang." Muttered Yao. "Light and dark."

Neko grinned and spun Yao around so they were face to face. She was still gripping his shoulders and hovering in the air. "Bad move boy. You figured out the next part of the game and as a consequence both Lapin and I can physically hurt everyone else now! Look like The Beast is having a feast tonight!"

With ease she threw Yao down the hall. He slammed into the wall, cracking some of the plaster before hitting the floor. With the sudden weight placed upon it the floor cracked and fell away. Yao gasped as he fell to the concrete ground below. His body exploding on impact with the cold surface, getting his insides all over the room.

Yao was only alive for about thirty seconds after that and all he could do in that time was look up through the hole in the ceiling. Just before everything went completely black, Neko looked down at him and giggled. "Oops. I guess I don't know my own strength."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Lapin hummed happily to herself as she skipped down the halls of the school. It had been a few hours and she was hoping that her sister was now done with the bagging. She looked into the nurses office, happy to see that Russia's body was bagged. She then ventured down to basement and frowned. Most of China had been bagged, but her sister was still in the process of scrapping the rest of him off the walls.

"How can you not be done yet?" Asked Lapin. "The Beast is still hungry and she just ate the last of France, Prussia and Canada."

"Then give her Russia." Snapped Neko as she scrapped what one could assume were Yao's guts off the wall. "I still have lots of cleaning to do… Oh and Yao activated the next rule by saying we are Yin and Yang."

Lapin smiled happily. "Okay. I'll tell The Beast that bit of information. I hope she takes a little longer to eat him…"

"Who knows." Muttered Neko. "You know how a BBQ goes. It's burnt to a crisp on the outside, but frozen on the inside… Still should take her a while to eat it."

Lapin nodded in agreement. "Okay. See you later." She turned and went to retrieve Russia's body. The Beast must be fed.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **It took way too long to write this… Oh well, please review!


	17. Draw a Circle

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… I'm killing of characters faster than one can poke a stick at. I guess there is nothing I can do but continue this bloody spiral… I OWN NOTHING!

**Draw a Circle**

The message sent by the witches shocked and disturbed everyone. Gilbert and Matthew were dead, they were sure of it and Ivan and Yao had probably shared the same fate. Even if people weren't showing it, they were freaking out.

Arthur frowned a little as he tried to think of a way to calm everyone's nerves. They needed some kind of reassurance. He felt that it was his responsibility because he felt that he had become the unspoken leader of the group. Since the beginning, weather they liked it or not, this was fact. He came up with nothing.

"What are we going to do?" Muttered Alfred, his voice echoed around the room.

"Is there much point in doing anything?" Asked Antonio. He really hadn't been the same since Lovino was murdered. He was more quiet and seemed to be more twisted, like his old conquistador or pirate personas were emerging again. "It doesn't matter anymore. If they can take down those guys we stand no chance… They are picking us off one by one. They are finding ways to lure us away. Eventually we will all die and that's that."

"Shut up, Antonio!" Snapped Arthur. "You're just trying to scare us!"

"We should be scared!" Yelled Antonio. "We would be stupid to think otherwise! If anyone out there is still alive they might have lost their minds or become puppets for them again! Just like Francis!"

"We need to stay calm!" Snapped Arthur.

"YOU WANTCH SOMEONE DIE AND THEN YOU CAN TELL ME TO STAY CALM!" Screamed Antonio. "WATCH SOMEONE YOU RAISED GETTING CARRIED AWAY BY THOSE WITCHES LIKE THEY ARE NOTHING! WATCH AMERICA DIE!"

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Snapped Ludwig. The tension was raising to dangerous levels within the church. One word out of place and someone was going to snap. Everyone was angry and irritable, but at least they were quiet now. "Arthur is right… We need to calm down… Going at each other's throats won't fix anything. We have to try to figure out some strategy to get rid of those-"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Yelled Antonio. "EVEN OF WE KILL THEM HOW THE HELL WILL WE LEAVE? WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE WE ARE! HOW CAN WE GO ON WITHOUT THE OTHERS? HOW WILL THEIR GOVERNMENTS? THEIR PEOPLE? WILL THEY FALL APART? WE DON'T KNOW!"

"Please, everyone calm down!." Said Kiku in a panicked voice. "If we keep acting like this we will be easy pickings for them, all will be lost and our friends would have died for no reason. We have to keep it together for them… We have to keep living for them…" It didn't matter what they did or said. Nothing could possibly stop them from arguing and bickering amongst each other. The group was descending into chaos.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"… Just attaching it to your optical fibre, pushing it in and… New eye!" Cheered Neko happily. She put sown her scalpel and scissors. The Beast blinked a few times, vision coming back to her new eye. "Anything blurry? Fuzzy? Reflective?"

"No…" Muttered The Beast. "Mirror please." Neko grinned and picked up mirror. Brushing back her dark brown hair she was able to see her new blood red eye, it was a big contrast to her other eye. She liked it. "Pretty… Ruby red… I almost want a set…"

"No problem!" Cheered Neko. She got up and quickly skipped out of the room. "I just need to pull it out of the skull… Shit… Um…" After a few moments Neko came back in, holding a blue eye with a slight purple colour. "Will this do? I know of um… pulverized the other one… Am I in trouble?"

The Beast giggled a little and took the eye out of Neko's hand. "I don't mind that I don't have a set of pretty red eyes… Two different eyes is unique." She lifted the eye up into the air by the optic fibres and grinned. "Unique doesn't always mean good or bad, it just means not the same…" She opened her mouth and let the eye fall in. She swallowed to whole. With a satisfied smile of her face she looked up at Neko. "Have you and Lapin made my new leg yet?"

Neko giggled a little and nodded. "Yeah, Lapin's just putting the final pieces together. It's hard to go through so many bones to find one that's suitable for a small shin bone and then to wrap in in muscles and skin is difficult, but she's almost done!"

Almost as if on cue, Lapin walked in with The Beasts new leg. "I got it!" She cheered. "Let's get this show on the road!" Neko grinned and quickly attached the leg. Once it was attached, The Beast stood up and walked around a little. Once again she was mobile.

"And it's a success!" Cried Neko happily.

The Beast chuckled a little and nodded. "Okay, well you two can do what you want for now… I'm going to walk around a little."

"You got it!" Said Lapin happily. She and Neko quickly left The Beast alone.

Once alone, The Beast walked outside. It was starting to rain, but it didn't matter to much to The Beast. Rain felt good against her skin. She slowly made her way up a small hill that over looked the town. From there she could see the whole town; from the residential area to the lagoon, nothing was out of her sight. Her eyes settled on the church and she sighed sadly. "Will you ever understand? I doubt it… You're all too stupid… Do you see a blank book when you look at me? All I see is the repetition of a sad and sorry story as old as this birth of life on this planet… I hate you all."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Everyone was still at each other's throats, having no one but each other to blame. Kiku and Feliciano had made themselves busy by cooking some food in the far corner of the church, Arthur and Ludwig were talking over some battle plans in another corner and Alfred seemed to be in deep thought over something.

'_Probably over something stupid._' Thought Antonio darkly. '_We're all going to die here and we're just sitting around waiting for them to turn up and murder us. I don't understand it… Damn it. Why isn't everyone angrier or something…_' He glanced over at Alfred. '_His fucking brother died and I'm pretty sure there was sexual tension between him and Ivan. Where the fuck is that heroic streak that wouldn't let this injustice go unpunished?_' He then glanced over at Arthur and Ludwig. '_Ludwig's brother died too. He should want to get out there and murder them… Arthur has been on good terms with pretty much everyone who has died and he actually knew Francis the longest…_' Finally he looked over at Feliciano and Kiku. '_Yao raised Kiku. He should be furious that he's dead… And Lovino was Feliciano's brother… Fucking get angry. Fucking do something… Anything!_'

All this sitting around was going to drive Antonio over the edge. He was so angry, but he didn't know who he was madder at. The witches and The Beast for doing this or everyone else for doing fuck all about it. It was all annoying. Antonio wanted to do something, anything to take his mind off of what was happening around them.

He stood up and walked up to the bell tower. There no one would bother him and he could see everything for miles around. It didn't matter to him that it had started to rain. He just needed to get away from everyone to think.

'_They are using the oldest trick in the book…_' He thought darkly. '_They want to divide us. Pit us against each other until we all die._' He gritted his teeth a little. '_Damn it… out of all the people that had to die first, why did it have to be Lovino? It's not fair damn it._'

"Well the world isn't fair." Said Neko. She was sitting on the roof of the church, leaning against the bell tower. Even though it was pouring down she didn't seem to be getting wet at all. "And before you ask, my powers don't actually work here and no you can't kill me, but you can try. It'll be fun."

"What are you doing here?" Hissed Antonio darkly.

Neko shrugged and looked up at him, smiling a little. "Just enjoying the view… What about you? Pissed off that none of the others are taking the initiative to try and kill us?"

"Why are you trying to make a connection with me?" He hissed. Antonio wanted nothing to do with those witches, speaking to one was not exactly part of his plan. But there was one thing he really needed to know "… Did you really eat them?"

Neko frowned. "Lapin and I are vegetarians or vegans or something… The only animal products we occasionally eat are eggs, but those times are few and far between. The Beast eats everything. Bones, skin hair and all until nothing is left."

Neko's confession just cause Antonio's rage to bubble and boil inside his body. He wanted to jump over the railing and rip her limb from limb. It wasn't really sure if he was angry that they were actually going to get eaten or by the causal way Neko had said it. "Why are you doing this? Just why?"

With those soft spoken words, Neko threw her head back and laughed wildly. Her laughing fit went just as quickly as it came. "The real question is what didn't you do to deserve this!" She cackled. "Venomous tongues whispering faster than a car can crash! Underhanded deals that hurt like a knife in the back! You're all bastards and everyone gets what they deserve!" She stood up and glared Antonio. "You are all sick bastards… But don't worry the world is connected in an endless loop."

"An endless what?"

Neko smirked and drew little circles in the air with her fingers. "An endless loop. A circle… Draw a circle, there's the earth. Draw a circle, there's the earth. Draw a circle, there's the earth… Everything is always doomed to repeat itself over and over again. Everything will finish where it starts and starts where it ends. People can't get taken away without something getting put back… Countries can die, but they never stay dead forever. You just need to wait and the circle will eventually be complete."

Antonio looked at the witch in confusion. He wasn't entirely sure he understood what the witch was talking about, but he had an idea. "Are you saying that even if we die here we will still survive?"

"Maybe…" Said Neko with a shrug. "It just all has to do with the circle. If it already ended when they died it doesn't matter, but if the circle was only halfway done we will simply keep killing you until the circle ends… I can't say if the circle has ended for those that have passed… But once consumed or partially consumed, do you really want them back?" Her eyes were gleaming with something frightful.

Antonio gulped. "… Are you saying that Lovino is alive?"

Neko giggled a little. "Maybe… Maybe not… Do you believe he is alive? Do you want him to still be alive or maybe you hope he is dead and out of his misery? The Beast does love to torture, bludgeon and brutally abuse live food. It's one of her favourite hobbies."

Those words sent a chill down Antonio's spine. He knew that Lovino was dead for sure. He had seen him dead as anything. There was no life in those eyes, yet at the same time he knew that it was possible for countries to survive fatal injuries, but he didn't know if countries could come to life after getting murdered. He wanted to Lovino to be alive but at the same time he did want him dead, just so he wouldn't suffer.

"Conflicted aren't you?" Asked Neko with a smirk. "If he's alive he's in unbearable pain and if he's dead you are a mess. What a beautiful cycle of endless misery… Lapin might even say it's romantic. I think it's bull shit."

"Is he alive or isn't he?" Snapped Antonio.

Neko levitated to her feet, her limbs dangling in the air like a rag doll. "Do you think he is alive, Spain? Do you think he's suffering?" She tilted her head at an unnatural angle. "Or do you want him to come back? Do you think his circle has ended? Come on Antonio… Draw a circle, there's the earth. Draw a circle, there's the earth. Draw the circle, there's the earth." With a giggle, Neko evaporated into the rain, leaving no trace of her ever being there.

Antonio blinked a few times, unsure if he really just experienced what had happened. '_Is Lovino really alive?_'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yep… I'm leaving it there… please review!


	18. Witches Day Off II

**Shinigami-cat: **So here comes another chapter of blood and stuff… I OWN NOTHING!

**Witches Day Off II**

It was still raining when Neko got back to her sister. Lapin was sitting in a tree looking right at the church, scowling a little. Neko just chuckled and climbed up, sitting next to her. "Hey there! What's up?"

"Do you think they will realize what's happening to them?" Asked Lapin calmly. Her gaze not leaving the building.

Neko shrugged and leaned back a little, swinging her legs. "Does it really matter? This island holds many secrets… Too many secrets. They could unearth a secret and just lie about it…"

Lapin nodded a little in agreement. "Do you ever wonder what they think moments before they die?"

"The same old stuff I think." Said Neko lazily. "The usual; 'I don't want to die', 'I'm sorry', 'Please forgive me', 'Please let the others live' and my personal favourite has to be 'Why?'."

"I guess so…" Said Lapin quietly. "You shouldn't have told Spain about the circle."

"It doesn't matter." Said Neko. "Everything starts and ends the same way. Earth always takes away what she gives. You know that. I know that. Everyone with half a brain knows that." She yawned a little and looked up at the sky. "But fate changed faster than the death of night… And black tongues speak faster than a car can crash… If they are smart and realize their sins they might be able to escape this island and go home with nothing more than the clothes on their back and their memories…"

"Yeah, but how often has that happened?" Asked Lapin sarcastically. "Never. That's how often… In the end we'll all return to dirt… food for worms… I'm worried about The Beast."

"What's there to worry about?" Asked Neko with a grin. "The Beast is all powerful. She just chooses not to kill them in an instant… She gives them the chance to realize what they have done wrong first."

Lapin shook her head. "You don't understand… I think she's getting sicker… Eventually she'll die and that's that. Everything we see will cease to exist. I hate it! I hate it all!"

"You're wrong." Hissed Neko darkly. "No matter what happens… No matter what these nations figure out… No matter if humans are wiped out all-together you, me and The Beast will always be together. There are no if, buts or maybe's about it. That's just how it will be. You can't have any doubt in your mind."

"I know…" Said Lapin quietly. "I just… I worry about her… I don't want her to die. She has never done anything wrong. If she dies than we have nothing! Without her we're nothing! We can't survive on our own and she can't survive without us! It's so scary! I feel so exposed and venerable!"

"You need to calm your tits." Snapped Neko. "The Beast will never die as long as we keep brining sacrifices for her! I've already planted the seeds of insanity in Spain's mind! We just have to wait until those seeds sprout and bloom into something hideous."

"I guess…" Muttered Lapin sadly. "But I still worry so much… The Beast is so nice to us… I can't just let something happen to her… We owe everything to her…"

Neko shrugged a little and jumped out of the tree. She looked up at her sister and grinned evilly. "Don't worry. The Beast will survive this. After all… humans are a mob, but what's a mob to a king? What's a king to a god? What's a god to a nonbeliever?"

Lapin frowned a little. "That analogy is trivial a best."

"Then put it this way…" Said Neko happily. "Humans are a mob, but what's a mob to a government? What's a government to an army? What's an army to a country? What's a country to The Beast? She will survive and thrive through all trials thrown at her and more."

Lapin smiled a little. She knew she was being stupid. The Beast would always be there. She stood the test of time. She would be here forever and ever. No matter how hurt or damaged she was, The Beast would always be there forever.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After their little chat, Lapin went back to their home and started to tend to the plant. Some of the larger pods looked like there was something was squirming under the waxy skin. It was interesting to watch, but at the same time it was a little worrying. If worms had made their way into the plant it could be disastrous.

"Maybe I should spray it with pesticide?" Muttered Lapin.

"Already on it sis!" Called Neko. She skipped into the room carrying a can. "Chrysanthemum oil and other natural pesticides!" She shook the can and proceeded to cover the plant in it. "All natural, no harmful chemicals and no evil ozone eating gasses. Plus it'll kill the bugs on or in it and deter other ones from getting at it."

"… Why are you speaking like you're on infomercial?" Asked the now confused Lapin.

Neko smirked. "In the words of one red eyed dead bastard, I'm awesome."

"You belong on a funny farm."

"Oh shut up. At least I do my job." Snapped Neko.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Growled Lapin.

Neko rolled her yellow eyes. "Let's see… Number of people I've killed during this game That would be… Okay technically it's been one so far… Fuck I need to step up my game."

"Precisely." Said Lapin. "I've killed and indirectly killed five out of six people. You only killed Romano because he pissed you off. I killed France, China, Canada, Prussia and Russia. Step up your game!"

"I've planted the seeds of insanity in Spain damn it!" Snapped Neko in frustration. "And it's not my fault that they haven't gone out and touched many memory pulses! We need to the them the fuzzy fuck out of that church! Can't we blow the damn place up or something?"

Lapin rolled her eyes and gently patted some of the smaller pods. "We can't until someone loses their mind. That's the rule."

Neko looked like she was about to blow a fuse; her face was red with anger, her eye was twitching and she just looked angry. "That's because Spain hasn't snapped just yet and started to go all Friday the thirteenth on their asses."

"But you can't say I'm not doing my job." Said Lapin. "If anything you aren't doing your job. You are just running around setting traps that they don't find."

"Hey!" Growled Neko darkly. "It was my piano wire trap that chopped Prussia into diced meat! That means I did kill two, not one! While were going on technicalities here I thought we agreed that monster deaths were yours and all other deaths are mine! China fell! Three all! We are even!"

Lapin shrugged. Her sister could be so competitive sometimes. "Fine. Three all. We are tied for the lead this time… But it won't be long before I win."

"Yeah, when hell freezes over." Muttered Neko. She sighed a little and walked into the kitchen. "Be sparing with the pesticide."

"Okay!" Said Lapin happily. She hummed to herself as ran her hands over the pods. "Are you going to start cooking again?"

"Potato soup for us." Called Neko. "And maple glazed Canadian ribs with a side of Prussian tenderloin… A meal fit for a king."

"… So no more Romano inspired dishes?"

"Finished two days after he died."

"French?"

"A week."

"Russian?"

"She munches on his charred remains like popcorn. We'll be out in a week."

"China?"

"Made a big pot of soup out of him. Some of it's still in the fridge. We'll be out in two days."

"Oh… Is that the last of Canada?"

"Yep." Said Neko happily. "All that's left are his tasty ribs. I'm just glazing them now!"

"And the tenderloins are the last of Prussia?"

"Yep… More like diced tenderloins." Neko laughed, malice and hatred easily wormed its way into her voice. "It was kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. It took me ages to do it. My trap cut him up good… It was almost beautiful really… The way the red mixed with the white of his skin…It's beautiful how his skin and bone could stay so white while everything else was so red…"

Lapin frowned a little. "You're doing that thing again."

Neko giggled. "Sorry. I get carried away sometimes."

As far back as Lapin remembered her sister always saw the beauty in the dead. If she could she would watch a corpse for hours as it rotted and decayed back into the earth from whence it came. Murder and the act of torture were beautiful to her. The perfect torture and the perfect crime were some of the things she loved to see happen in the human world. The bloodier and creepier the better. She would go weak in the knees at torture that would last for days and days on end until a person would just give up and their body finally gave out. It freaked Lapin out a fair bit.

She liked seeing the beauty in everything. New life was something she loved seeing. The potential for something or someone to do something great made her happy and warm. This was probably why she preferred to look after the plant and her monsters instead of directly killing people. She shied away from that stuff. Death was the one part of the circle she didn't like. The beginning and middle were her favourite, the end was her sisters.

Lapin smiled a little, she and her sister were polar opposites. They were crazy, but they complement each other perfectly. Life and death. Yin and Yang. Good and bad. Weak and string. Light and dark. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Saint and sinner. Angel and demon. Cat and dog. Cat and mouse. They were the perfect balance. Some had come close to figuring out their true identities years ago, but none ever really found out. They tossed around some words and came really close.

"It's fine sis." Said Lapin quietly. "Just don't burn anything. The Beast will be a little upset if that happens.. but not too upset."

"What are you talking about?" Asked The Beast. She walked into the room where Lapin was. She was soaking wet.

"Oh dear!" Gasped Lapin. "Were you standing out in the rain all alone? You could get sick sweetie! Let's get you warmed up."

The Beast shrugged. "Okay… but later. What are you making, Neko?"

"Maple glazed Canadian ribs and Prussian tenderloins." Called Neko. "Go dry off and wash your hands. Help her out Lapin."

Lapin smiled and took hold of The Beast's small hand. "Come on dear. Let's go do that." Everything they did was for The Beast. All the bloodshed, all the suffering, all the pain, all the screams, all the empty cries of 'I'm sorry' and all the death was for her. To them The Beast was perfect and sinless in every way. Those on this island were the opposite to them. Those on the island were stained with the black mark of sin. They were evil and vial creatures that deserved to suffer and die over and over again until they had become nothing but a messed up mash of nothing. Their mind disfigured, their bodies rotted and riddled with worms.

'_It can wait though._' She thought cheerfully. '_The Beast will end those here and start the process all over again in this never ending hell._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **And there… please review!


	19. Fall

**Shinigami-cat: **Holy cow it's been a long time since I wrote for this! I don't know why though. I guess it was just hard for me to come up with ideas and stuff for things to happen. Oh well, I got over my writers block eventually… I OWN NOTHING!

**Fall**

Neko's words were still swirling around in Antonio's head. He wanted to know if anything she said was true. He wanted to find out if Lovino was still alive. He didn't deserve to die like that. He was a good person, rough around the edges, but a good person. He was just like his brother, but a little meaner.

'_I just want him back…_' He thought sadly. '_I just want to see him again…_'

"Toni? Don't you want anything to eat?" Asked Feliciano. He was holding out a small bowl of some kind of meat and rice.

In all honesty, Antonio didn't feel like eating but he took it anyway. "Thanks Feli…" He slowly ate as he watched everyone else. Studying their behaviour a little. Even though everyone seemed to be set on edge, everyone seemed to be settling in to their situation.

He didn't want this. He despised this comfortableness that everyone had settled into. He wanted to know what they were going to do now. They had to do something soon or they might all just die.

Luckily for him, Alfred asked the question first. "What are we going to do… We can't just stay here… We're sitting ducks."

Arthur nodded in agreement. "Yes… We need to find something… anything we could possibly use against them…"

"We could try to find the totems." Suggested Kiku. "But it's too risky."

Ludwig nodded in agreement. "They are too smart not to anticipate every possible situation… They have been at this for too long."

"How many people do you think they have murdered." Whispered Feliciano. "How many people have they tormented? Have they been doing this since the beginning of time and just changed the buildings to make it look like different places? Have they murdered women? Children? How can they? It's just not right. What is wrong with them? How many people have had to die because of them?"

Antonio frowned a little at that thought. '_How many people have they killed? That's a good question. Probably more than we will ever know…_' He shivered a little. He vaguely wondered if any of them dies like Lovino. Forced to swallow scissors, drown in their own blood and maybe even cut through their spine and die that way. Probably hundreds, maybe even thousands of people had shared that fate.

"What did you say?" Asked Arthur. "The part about the buildings changing…"

Feliciano tilted his head in confusion. "I was just saying that if they have been killing for hundreds of years that they might have changed the buildings around… ve…"

Arthur grinned from ear to ear. "That makes sense… They change the buildings, but natural structures… land marks stay the same… everything else changes…"

"Figure something out?" Asked Antonio. "Go on, spit it out."

"It's nothing." Said Arthur quickly. "Just a theory I'm working on. Nothing too important."

"Of course it's important!" Snapped Antonio quickly. He grabbed his battle axe and pointed it at Arthur in a threatening manner. "Every fucking detail is important! We are fighting monsters here you idiot! Monsters that have murdered Lovino, Francis, Gilbert, Yao, Ivan and um… Matthew! They are murdering everyone we fucking care about! We were all relatives or at least friends of every one of them! How the fuck can you keep important information to yourself that might be vital to our survival as a group?"

The stress was finally getting to Antonio. He wanted vengeance and didn't give a fuck about it anymore. He wanted to end this madness with a blood battle. His closest friends were dead and Lovino… He was obsessed with Lovino's death. If he had just told him to stay instead of running back to the church where he thought he would be safe. He killed Lovino, not with his own hands but he may as well have.

Arthur glared back at Antonio, unfazed by his threat. "Fine… Since we have been here I have not experienced any negative or dark energy that would be associated with evil spirits apart from that bloody diary. All the energy here is neutral which leads me to believe that perhaps the witches are not really witches but the jury and executioners. The Beast on the other hand is the judge." He sighed a little and ran his fingers through his hair. "We must have committed a crime or something and these creatures are carrying our punishment."

Antonio looked at Arthur. The serious look on the Brit's face was almost too much. The Spaniard burst into laughter. "What? Are you fucking serious? What the fuck have any of us done to deserve to get murdered like this? Swallowing scissors… disembowelled… and god knows what happened to everyone else. Why the fuck do we deserve this? Why the fuck do we need to suffer this hell!"

"Calm the fuck down you twat." Hissed Arthur. "It is just a theory. I didn't want to say anything because I don't have a fucking clue if it's true or not! It's a fucking theory!"

"Please, we shouldn't be fighting!" Said Kiku quickly. "Everyone that has perished before us would not to bicker about meaningless things! We have to stick together to survive this for them!"

Antonio growled darkly and slammed the axe down into the ground. The blade easily embedded itself in the ground. "Shut up… Just shut the fuck up Kiku… Have you even once shed a tear since you came here? Alfred and Arthur have... Feliciano and Ludwig have… I have… Why haven't you? Not allowed to feel emotion even in the most extreme circumstances?"

"That… that's not true…" Said Kiku quietly. "I understand that grieving for our friends who have passed away is something that we should do… but I believe that we should do that when we are out of immediate danger and can freely morn without fear of another passing away. Wouldn't Lovino agree, Antonio?"

The glare Antonio sent Kiku was as cold as ice. "Don't you fucking say his name again you bastard. You didn't know him the way I did. Don't act like you know otherwise."

"So he would have wanted you to put your life in danger for no reason?" Asked Kiku. It seemed as though it was one of those rare moments when the Japanese man would momentarily lose his temper. "Going on a rampage to try and avenge him isn't going to bring him back, it's just going to get yourself killed! No one else is thinking of doing something so reckless!"

"That's because everyone else is a fucking coward!" Yelled Antonio. He was so frustrated to the point where he was almost ripping out his own hair. He wanted to yell and scream and shout and break things and destroy. "If anyone around here gave a fuck we would have attacked and killed those bitches long ago!"

"Violence won't solve anything." Argued Arthur. He sighed a little and sat down on a chair. "We need to out think them. Even if they are old and ancient creatures they might be used to vicious attacks. We need to use our minds against them."

'_The eyebrow bastard's right. We can't just rush into things you stupid Tomato bastard._'

Antonio's eyes went wide and looked around. He thought for a moment he had heard Lovino's voice. But that was impossible. Lovino was dead. '_But what about that circle thing Neko was talking about? Does this mean that Lovino is not really dead? Did anyone else hear that? Am I going crazy?_'

'_Bastard? What's wrong? Of course I'm still here! Don't you believe your own ears?_'

Antonio gulped a little and shivered. "L-Lovino?"

'_Of course it's me you idiot! Fucking hell, without me around your brain is nothing but mush._'

Antonio shook his head and clamped his hands over his head. "No… no… You're dead! You're fucking dead! Shut up! Shut up!"

'_I'm not dead! I'm outside damn it! Just come outside! Let me in damn it! Those fucking witches are trying to kill me for crying out loud! Save me you dumb tomato bastard!_'

"No! You're not real!" Yelled Antonio. "Just shut up! Those witches murdered you! Just shut up Lovino! Just shut up!" He suddenly felt two people grab his arms and lift him up. Antonio gasped and looked up. Ludwig and Alfred had him in a vice like grip. "Huh?"

"The dude's snapped." Said Alfred. "Where do we put him until he's calmed down?"

Antonio's eyes went wide. "What? I'm not crazy! Let me go damn it! Let me go!"

"Bell tower." Said Arthur calmly. "It's not like he can do much in there."

"No!" Yelled Antonio as he was dragged away. "I'm not crazy damn it! I'm not fucking crazy!"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Antonio was now beyond frustrated. There was nothing to do. All he could do was walk up and down the steps, hit the bell and look out across island. '_I'm not crazy… I'm not. Why the fuck is this happening to me? Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!_'

'_Quit complaining bastard. You're acting like you used to… I prefer it when you're happy… Not like this._'

Antonio chuckled a little as he leaned against the railing. "So I really have snapped haven't I? I'm hearing voices in my head… Well just Lovino's voice, but still… I've guess I really have gone insane… I'm useless to them now."

'_You're not insane! Just look over to the right damn it! Help me get up damn it!_'

He looked over to the right and almost jumped out of his skin. Lovino was trying to pull himself onto the roof. He didn't even look like he had died at all. "L-Lovino?" Gasped Antonio. "Is that really you?"

'_Of course it is you bastard! Do you really think they could kill me damn it!_' Lovino pulled himself on to the roof and dusted himself off. He looked a little dishevelled, but otherwise okay. He sighed a little and crossed his arms. '_Some help you are, bastard._'

Antonio was in too much shock to move. "No… I saw you… You were dead. You died. You had scissors sticking out of your mouth for crying out loud! There is no way you could have survived!"

Lovino frowned and crossed his arms. '_Don't you want me to be alive? I thought you cared about me you bastard. Am I really better off dead?_'

"I never said that!"

'_The way you're acting now sure feel like it!_' Snapped Lovino. He sighed a little and looked up at the sky. '_It's always grey here isn't it? Such an ugly colour… Why did you tell me to run?_'

"I thought you would have been safe…" Whispered Antonio. "I thought that you would live… even if it was just for a little bit longer…"

Lovino shook his head and sighed. '_You're an idiot…_' He looked down at the ground and chuckled a little. '_You know… someone could die if they fell from here…_'

"Yeah…" Antonio sighed and stepped over the railing so he was on the roof. "Come on Lovi, let's go inside. Everyone will feel better knowing that you're alive…"

Lovino shook his head and took a step away from Antonio so he was right up against the edge of the roof. '_I don't want to go back there… Even if we don't die, I think the witches will keep coming after us. What's to stop them? Don't you remember how you got here? Doesn't anyone remember?_'

"Stop talking nonsense Lovi." Said Antonio calmly. He was almost an arm's length away from Lovino now. "Just… just get away from there… You'll fall."

'_Fall… what a good idea…_' Lovino started to cough violently. Drops of blood flew out of his mouth and landed on Antonio's shirt.

"Lovino? What's wrong Lovino?" Cried Antonio in shock. Once again he was frozen to the spot as he watched Lovino shaking violently as more and more blood started to flow out of his mouth at an alarming rate. Suddenly a large and long silver object fell out of his mouth. It was a pair of scissors covered in blood.

Antonio's eyes went wide with shock. "L-Lovino? Y-you're not him are you?"

Lovino grinned and grabbed Antonio's arm, blood was easily falling down his lips and down his chin. '_So I'm not Lovino now? You dumb fuck! Decide what I am you bastard! Dead or alive! Alive or dead! Who gives a fuck? Not me you fucker! Let's leave here together! Let's go to hell together, but you first! Set a fucking example you crazy fucker!_' He easily yanked Antonio's arm and threw him over the side of the church.

Antonio didn't even have time to cry out in shock before his head hit the steps in front of the church, caving in and splattering everywhere in one giant explosion of gore. Killing him instantly.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Lapin sighed a little from her position on top of the bell tower. "That was cruel… Change yourself back, Neko… You look odd as Romano."

Neko shrugged and clicked her fingers, changing her appearance from that of Romano to her normal self once again. She threw the scissors down into Spain's corpse and smiled up at her sister. "Well I did what I set out to do… I got Spain to go crazy and die… Little disappointed he didn't murder anyone. They were a little too quick to lock him away."

"What did you expect?" Asked Lapin. She jumped down and stood next to her sister. "Does this mean we'll need to scrape him off the floor or something? Spanish flat something… Flat bread?"

Neko shrugged. "Maybe… Should we use a snow shovel or something? Perhaps we should wait until they open the doors and discover his corpse… Give them a day. His body will start to stink of we leave it for too long…"

"True…" Said Lapin quietly. "We are nearing the end aren't we? Another achievement has been unlocked. Blood has been spilled on the church…"

Neko grinned from ear to ear. "Yep… We can destroy the church now… But let's wait a bit longer. It would suck if someone got crushed to death by mistake… The Beast doesn't like her meat as flat as a pancake."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **And that was that… That took way too long to write… Please review.


	20. Scattered

**Shinigami-cat: **Sorry I haven't written for this in a while. Just had a bit of trouble coming up with ideas for it and all… I OWN NOTHING!

**Scattered**

Alfred jumped a little when the sound of something hard hit the ground outside the church. The group had sat down to try and figure out a way to get out of there when the sound occurred. "Dude… What was that?"

"I'll check…" Said Kiku quietly. He grabbed his katana and made his way towards the door.

"B-be careful!" Said Feliciano.

Kiku nodded and cautiously opened it, just enough for him to see what was out there. "… Is Antonio san still in the bell tower?" He asked quietly. Immediately a feeling of dread swept through the church. Everyone quickly looked at each other, sharing the same look or fear.

"He should be." Said Arthur slowly. "Why?"

Kiku gulped and slowly closed the door. He turned and faced the others. His face had lost all colour. "B-because there's a body in front of the church… The head has been completely smashed in to the point where it's unrecognisable and… and it's wearing Antonio san's clothes."

Arthur quickly got up and opened the door to the bell tower. "Antonio! You Spanish git! Get down here now!" With no response Arthur yelled again. This time he sounded a little more desperate. "This isn't funny Antonio… Antonio?"

Alfred shivered a little. '_Antonio's dead… How much longer will we survive? How the hell can we even die anyway? I don't understand that! I mean we all have been shot before. It's not like that hasn't happened… I just… I just don't get it! Why… why is this happening to us?_'

"What are we going to do?" Asked Feliciano quietly. Fear was present in his voice as he spoke. "W-we can't stay here forever and if we go out there we'll die… Nowhere is really safe is it? We're all just going to end up getting killed aren't we?"

"No way." Said Alfred. "The good guys always win! We're the good guys! We have to win!"

"This isn't one of your stupid movies Alfred!" Snapped Arthur. "The good guys don't always win! Good doesn't always triumph over evil! Those bastard witches have killed seven of us! Seven! You know what that means? They have no reason not to kill the rest of us!" No one said anything after that. Everyone knew what Arthur had said was true. They were all going to die.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

It took the good part of an hour for Lapin and Neko to clean up and move Antonio's body away from the church. It was surprisingly a lot of hard work for such an intact body. Once that was done Neko sighed a little. "So… How do we knock the church down? Earthquake? Tsunami? Termites? Fire? Lightning bolt of doom?"

Lapin shook her head. "No… All those ways are just so… I think we can do better. Maybe make it a team effort. Maybe make a game out of it? We do love games."

"I guess…" Muttered Neko. "But what kind of game? Oh… tug of war using Gobblers?" She loved this prospect. It seemed like fun and the perfect idea. They would rip the church apart like it was made of paper.

Lapin nodded and clapped her hands. In an instant two Gobblers appeared with chains in their mouths, like a horses bridal. They were both grunting and slowly moving around. Lapin picked up one of the chains and started to walk around to one side of the church. "I'll take this one. You can have the other."

Neko nodded and took hold of the other one. "Move it lumpy! We have a church to pull asunder!" The Gobbler made a growling noise and pulled back. Neko hissed back at it and pulled harder. "Bitch I said move your ass!" After much struggling, Neko finally managed to get her Gobbler in place and tied the chain around one of the corners of the church and Lapin did the same with hers.

With the monsters tied up and ready to go Lapin smiled happily. "Okay boys! Pull! Pull! Pull!" The Gobblers grunted and started to pull as hard as they could. The church slowly started to crack and shake under the pressure.

This made Neko squeal with joy. "Yay! Just a little more! Just a little more!"

"Come on babies!" Cheered Lapin.

"You can do it!"

"Rip that place apart!"

The church groaned and cracked. The roof was the first to go, followed closely by the walls and any other standing structure in a matter of seconds. A large puff of dust accompanied it. When the dust cleared the two girls looked at each other, slightly worried. "Um… did we just kill them all?" Asked Neko.

"I hope not." Said Lapin in a worried voice. "We'll get into so much trouble if they did end up getting killed at once!"

Neko frowned a little and started to look through the rubble. "… Well none of them are here… How the fuck did that happen?" Suddenly her eyes went wide. "Those sneaky bastard! They must have fucking run out the back while we were caught up in everything! We have to find them! He must keep track of them all!"

Lapin nodded in agreement. "I-I'll look all over the east side of the island! You take the west! They couldn't have gotten very far!" She started to run off down the road, followed by the Gobblers she summoned earlier.

"They better not have gotten very far…" Muttered Neko spitefully. She pulled an axe out of the rubble and chuckled darkly. "Oh well… those bastards can run as much as they like but they can't fight the darkness that's consumed them… Poor unfortunate souls such as them will always be stuck in this nightmarish limbo… Next country I see is going to get an axe to the face or vital regions."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The nations were spent. They had only just managed to grab a few things and get out the back of the church before it collapsed. They were hiding in the backwoods close to the beach, but far away from the actual church. They were all panting and at a loss for breath.

"Is everyone alright?" Asked Arthur. Everyone else slowly nodded in agreement. "Does anyone have any food or water?"

"I-I managed to bottle some water." Said Kiku quietly. "But it might not be safe to drink unless we boil it first…"

"That's good enough for now." Said Arthur. "Any food?"

"Ve, I have some dried stuff and a box of unopened cereal." Said Feliciano.

It was a start. Nowhere near enough for them all to survive though. They would need to find somewhere else to live. But where could they go? The church was the only place that seemed untouched by the witch's influence.

"Well we can't go back to the residential area." Muttered Ludwig. "That earthquake split the earth and it'll be impossible to cross from here. We can't go to the school either. Ivan and Yao went there and they haven't come back…"

"So does that mean the hospital and the office are our safest bets?" Asked Alfred. "If we clear out the monsters and keep a level head we should be able to keep those witches at bay."

"Seems like it." Said Arthur. "Perhaps we should split up. That way… that way at least one of us will have a better chance of surviving."

"W-we can't split up!" Cried Feliciano. "They'll just kill us faster!"

Alfred patted Feliciano's back in an attempt to comfort him. "Don't worry dude. We'll split into groups. Three and two. Three will go to one place and two will go to another."

Arthur nodded in agreement. "Right then… Alfred, Kiku and I will go to the hospital and Ludwig and Feliciano can go to the office building. Unless there are any objections?" No one seemed upset about the idea so Arthur continued. "Okay then… I'm not going to sugar coat this. This will probably be the last time we see each other alive. No doubt one or all of us will perish at the hands of those things so we should probably say goodbye to each other now."

There were a few tears shed and uncomfortable silences as the remaining nations said their final goodbyes to each other. Reluctantly they parted ways to find a new and safe base.

After about ten minutes of walking Arthur's group had reached the edge of the trees. In front of them was a vast and bleak landscape with a few monsters walking around. It was freaky. "How are we going to get around them?" Asked Alfred. "You guys think we'll have to fight through them or something?"

"We might have to back track." Said Kiku. "We'll have to find another way…"

"I agree." Said Arthur. "If we go out there those monsters will get us."

Neko giggled a little. "Fuck the monsters you little fuckers!" The trio turned around and gasped in shock. Neko was standing behind them holding an axe with an insane look in her eyes. She slowly lifted the axe into the air and laughed insanely. "See you bastards in hell!" She screeched.

The three of them quickly moved out of the way just in time as the axe slammed onto the ground. Unfortunately to do so they had to move into the open drawing the attention of the monsters.

Kiku wasted no time when it came to disposing of the creatures with Alfred. Arthur on the other hand had decided to take it upon himself to try and vanquish the witch. It was no real secret that he could perform magic, whether anyone believed him or not was a completely different story. Now wasn't the time to argue about the reliability of magic. All he knew was that he had to kill her or at least slow her down. He cast a spell at her, strong enough to repel her and knock her off her feet.

Neko groaned a little and quickly got back up. "Impressive…" She growled. "I always underestimate you…"

Arthur smirked. "Always? This is the first time we've done battle and to hand… or perhaps you just underestimate my hand to hand combat skills you little bitch."

Neko grinned and laughed happily. "Why would I underestimate your battle skills honey? You're England. You were a pirate, a superpower… I guess it's just hard to fear a nation that cowers in fear at the thought of losing America!" She jumped into the air and slammed her axe against the shield Arthur had put in place. It cracked a little, but didn't shatter. "Your magic is about as worthless as piss here! Give it up and join the others! Join Romano, France, Russia, China, Canada, Prussia and Spain!" She brought the axe down a few more times. Each time the invisible barrier cracked just a little bit more. "DIE! DIE! DIE! FUCKING DIE!"

Suddenly a gun shot rang out through the air and Neko fell limply to the ground. There was a gunshot wound to the back of her head. Arthur gasped in shock and turned to see that Kiku and Alfred had killed the monsters, although Alfred's gun was pointed at the place where Neko once stood. He looked a little shaken up.

"Is she… Is she dead?" Asked Alfred quietly.

Arthur gulped a little and looked over Neko's body. Her blood and some of her brain was splattered across the ground. "Yeah, she's dead… Bloody hell Alfred… I can't believe you did that…"

"Perhaps we should dismember her body?" Suggested Kiku. Alfred and Arthur looked at the Asian nation in shock. "I just think it would be a good precaution… Just in case her sister or The Beast decide to resurrect her. It will be harder to do if she is in pieces and spread all over the place."

Arthur bit his bottom lip a little. "I see… Where do we hide her body when we're done cutting it up?"

"We can leave some of her out in the open." Said Kiku. "But the rest we need to hide in other places… throw them into ditches, into waterways and bury them. Feed them to the monsters here if we have to."

Seeing as how Kiku had the only good cutting weapon he had the job of cutting the witch into several pieces. He her at all the joints in her arms and legs, ending up with twelve pieces from that. After that he cut her head off and her remaining body in half. All together she was butchered into fifteen pieces. Once that was done the trio had the gruesome task of discarding of the remains. Four pieces were scattered out in the open. Five were hidden under shrubs and in hollow logs. Three were buried in soft soil. Three were thrown into a river heading out to sea.

"Do you think that will be enough?" Asked Alfred.

"I don't know." Said Arthur. "We've wasted too much time here… We need to keep going to the hospital."

"Hopefully the others are having better luck than we are…" Muttered Kiku.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The Beast fell to the ground, shivering and convulsing a in pain. "N-Neko…" She whimpered. "Th-they k-killed her… Those bastards… those fucking bastards… I won't allow this… I will never allow them to kill one of them…" She slowly dragged herself into a sitting position and hacked up some thick red blood. "Her blood calls out for vengeance… I-I'll never forgive them… Never forgive them… America… I'm coming for you…"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **And there you all go… The church fell down, they split up and Neko shot and chopped up! Please review!


	21. Bloody Murder

**Shinigami-cat: **And then stuff happened… I OWN NOTHING!

**Bloody Murder**

They still couldn't believe what they had done to Neko. They knew it was disgusting to decapitate her. It was completely inhuman of them to do so, but they knew that they had no choice. It was kill or be killed. Those monsters were relentless and the witches were no better. The things that happened here were unbelievable and nothing short of monstrous. No one would condemn them for their actions.

"How much longer till we get to the hospital?" Asked Alfred. He sounded too quiet. It was too unlike him and it worried the other two. Sure Alfred had gone to war and seen horrific things, but it was unlikely he ever had to participate in such a gruesome and disturbing act as decapitation. He was far too young. The other two nations were older and had done much worse things and experienced things unimaginable. Nothing as bad as this though.

"I don't know." Muttered Arthur. "An hour? Two hours? It's impossible to tell… Are you okay though?"

"I-I'm fine…" Said Alfred slowly. "Never better… I guess it's just difficult to well… I don't know… I've never had to hide a body before… let alone a decapitated one."

"Probably doesn't matter." Muttered Arthur. "We didn't burn her body."

"Will that make a difference?" Asked Kiku.

"Yes." Said Arthur. He stopped walking and sighed sadly. "A witch like her… a thing like that will never ever die forever. She is… her and her sister are older than humanity itself. They are… They are not evil."

"What the hell do you mean they aren't evil?" Snapped Alfred darkly. "They murdered everyone! They are going to murder us! How the hell can they not be evil!"

"Because they aren't!" Snapped Arthur. "They are not unholy creatures! They are innocent of wrong doing!"

"How can you say that?" Asked Kiku. Even he was shocked at what Arthur had to say.

Arthur sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "They aren't evil… The Beast isn't evil either… I don't think they ever were…"

"What the hell?" Snapped Alfred darkly. He looked like he was about to explode with anger. "How can you say that? They have been trying to kill us for days! Weeks even! Nothing about them is innocent! That bitch has even been eating us! What the fuck is wrong with you? Have you gone insane? You've finally snapped haven't you?"

"I'm inclined to agree with Alfred-kun." Said Kiku. "We shouldn't stay here. We need to keep going. It's not safe here."

"No!" Snapped Alfred. "I want to know what Arthur has to say! How can those things not be evil? How! Just how the fuck? Fucking tell us damn it!"

Arthur shrugged a little. "They just aren't… Neko and Lapin are weird creatures… They are witches but they are not evil. Their energy is neutral and unchanging. No matter how many times they attack they never attack with evil or dark magic. It's always consistently the same. The only dark magic was the diary of The Beast. The only reason it was like that was because The Beast poured all her anger into it. She had to… The Beast is not evil… I know she's not. She's something else… Something stronger than the witches. Something even we are unable to understand or even begin to comprehend…"

"What is she?" Asked Alfred. "What the fuck could she be? The devil? A fucking psychopathic demon? Some kind of ghost?"

"No." Said Arthur quietly. "She's something much worse… but at the same time she's something much better…" He sighed a little and shook his head. "The Beast… that's not her real name. It's the name we gave her… She has a much simpler name… I know this is just a theory. A stupid, stupid theory, but I think I know what she is…"

"What is she?" Asked Kiku.

Arthur sighed and looked up at the sky. "Her name… Alfred look out!" Cried Arthur. He pushed Alfred out of the way just in time. A small red blur landed on Arthur's back and dug its nails into his skin. It was The Beast.

She hissed and growled as she ripped the flesh off his back and sunk her teeth into ever part of soft flesh her mouth could reach. "NOT YOU!" She screamed. "I WANTED AMERICA! WHY YOU? WHY YOU! I WANTED HIM! HE MUST PAY FOR KILLING HER! HE MUST PAY FOR KILLING NEKO!"

Arthur screamed and tried to shake her off, but was unable too. "BLOODY HELL! KIKU, GET ALFRED OUT OF HERE! SHE WANTS HIM!"

"ARTHUR!" Cried Alfred. He tried to run towards the Brit to save him, but Kiku held him back. "Let go!"

Kiku shook his head. "We have to run. Arthur-kun is sacrificing himself so we can escape. We can't attempt to kill her without mortally wounding him! We have no choice!" He pulled Alfred's arm again and they both reluctantly bolted.

The Beast growled darkly and sunk her nails into Arthur's shoulders. "See how they run?" She growled. "See how quickly they abandon you" Does it hurt? Do you feel pain?"

"Of course I feel pain you bitch." Spat Arthur. He fell to his knees and groaned in pain. He hurt too much to stand. "And they didn't abandon me… I just want them to live a little longer…"

The Beast chuckled and sat on Arthur's back, pushing his face into the dirt. His blood slowly bled out around him from his wounds. "I didn't want you to die just yet… I wanted America. Why the hell did you get in my way?"

Arthur chuckled a little. "I didn't want Alfred to die…"

"So you don't fear death?" She hissed. "You don't fear the reaper? The cold hand of death?"

"I know your name." Whispered Arthur. "Your real name… Not that bullshit. How did you come up with that name anyway? The Beast… Sounds like something biblical…"

The Beast shrugged and cut through the flesh on Arthur's back, making him hiss in pain. "I think it was some Italian Catholic that came up with my name… Before that my name was Demon, Thing, Bitch, Monster and Creature… The Beast just stuck with me… Do you really know my name?"

"Yes." Choked Arthur. Blood was now oozing out of his mouth and his vision started to blur.

"Then say it." Growled The Beast. "Say my real name."

Arthur shook his head slowly. "What's the point? Do names really mean anything anymore… I no longer fear you, nor do I care for your name… I know who you are and know who Lapin and Neko are. This game you're playing with us is sick but understandable."

The Beast smirked happily. "I like how you understand why I do what I do… Lapin and Neko were right, you are too smart for your own good… You know what happens next don't you?"

"Yes." Said Arthur quietly. His voice was finally starting to fail him. "I'll… see you… soon…"

"Of course." Muttered The Beast. Arthur flinched a little when he heard the sound of her jaw unhinging and felt sharp teeth touching the back of his head. In a matter of seconds he felt those teeth puncturing the back of his skull and ripping into his brain tissue, then nothing.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Lapin sighed a little as she continued to walk around. She was unsuccessful with finding any other of the nations, so instead she tried to find her sister. She wasn't having much luck. "Neko? Where are you?" She called. "Have you found someone?"

She sighed sadly and leaned against a tree. Her sister had to be somewhere. She had to be. '_Where could she be?_' The feel of something grabbing her arm made her jump. She grabbed what had touched her shoulder and gasped. It was Neko's hand. She could tell because it was wearing her glove.

"N-Neko?" Gasped Lapin in shock. "They cut you up? This is bad! The Beast will go psycho! Where's the rest of you? How many pieces are you cut into! Lead me to your head!" She put the hand on the ground and kicked it gently to get it moving. The gloved hand quickly scuttled across the ground over to a fresh patch of dirt and started to dig.

Lapin quickly started to dig to until she found her sister's head. She coughed up some dirt and growled a little. "Fucking fuckers! That dumb cunts fucking cut me up and chuckled my body everywhere! My feet are god knows where! Help me out and stitch me back together! I'm going to murder them!" Growled Neko.

Lapin sighed and dusted the dirt out of her sister's hair. "I know… I know… But I think The Beast will get to them first. You know the rules."

Neko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. If one of the nation's manages to kill us The Beast is within her right to murder and obliterate all those that stand in her way… I still want to kill America though… Think you can stitch me back together?"

"Of course." Said Lapin. She frowned a little and sighed. "Um… can you help me find your missing pieces?"

"Sure." Said Neko happily. "Let's play hot and cold. You point my head in a direction and I'll tell you if you're hot or cold… Shouldn't take more than a few hours… Mind putting a few obstructions on their way for me to slow them down? You know, earthquakes, Gobblers, Blobs, Weeping? Those guys?"

"No problem." Said Lapin happily. She held her sister's head up and started to move it around as she walked.

"Freezing…" Muttered Neko. "Freezing… Sub zero… warm… warm… hot… hot… hot… cold…"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Alfred felt sick. He couldn't believe what they had done. He felt so guilty. "Arthur…" He whispered. "Why… why didn't we save him? Why couldn't we save him? It's not fair!"

"I know." Said Kiku quietly. "But he gave us out best chance of escape… He sacrificed himself to save us.

"But he was about to tell us something important!" Snapped Alfred. "He was… He knew what was going on! He had to have known!"

"I know…" Said Kiku quietly. "He… Arthur-san saved us. We will not forget his sacrifice… or the sacrifice of the others before him. None of them deserved this fate… Don't let their deaths be in vain. We must keep moving… please, for their sake."

Alfred bit his bottom lip a little. "We never should have split up."

"I'm starting to think the same." Whispered Kiku. "I just hope that the others are alive still… Their lives… our lives… I wish we knew what Arthur-san knew. It might have saved him and us…"

Alfred shook his head. "That thing… The Beast was after me… It wanted me, not Arthur. You heard it. She wanted me dead… not him… Maybe if I offered myself up instead of running she would have let him live…"

"For how long?" Asked Kiku coldly. "How long would a monster like that have let him live? A sacrifice like that would have been for nothing. She was already ripping him apart. He wouldn't have survived. He would have bled to death… At least with The Beast he might have dies a relatively quick and somewhat painless death… Best to die quickly, than to die slowly."

"But why did he have to die next?" Snapped Alfred. "Arthur was a good guy! I… I loved him damn it! Now I'll never be able to tell him because he's dead! He's fucking dead! Do you have any idea how that feels? I've loved him for as long as I could remember! As a brother… as a friend… and as something more… Someone I was deeply in love with! I want him back damn it! I want him back now!"

"… I'm sorry Alfred-kun." Said Kiku quietly. "But we need to keep moving… Let's go to the hospital and find a safe place where we can rest… Arthur-san was important to me too… He was a good friend. I cared so much for him, just like how I care for you and everyone else…"

Alfred stayed quiet. It was almost like he was trying hard to listen to the surroundings. He wanted to hear Arthur walking towards them. He wanted to see Arthur alive and well again. He wanted him back so badly. He gulped a little and shook his head. He felt so depressed and saddened. '_Arthur…_'

He shook his head and started walking again. "Let's just get to the hospital… I just… I wish he didn't have to die… Arthur…" Kiku nodded a little and followed Alfred. It was quiet now. Almost too quiet. They didn't feel at ease with the silence, but they felt better every time they heard the sound of a creature skulking around.

After a few minutes of that they started to hear a strange noise. It sounded like someone was punching something hard in the face over and over again, but it sounded rhythmical. Similar to what it sounds like when someone kicks a ball against a wall repeatedly. This unnatural and rhythmic sound made both of them worry to some degree, no matter how large or small it was.

Suddenly Arthur's head came flying through the air and smashed into a tree. Brain tissue, bone blood, hair and skin went ever where. They were both too scared to make a sound. A few seconds later Neko, or rather 'rag doll' Neko came walking out laughing. Her body was stitched back together with some kind of nylon black string. She looked angry, but at the same time she seemed happy.

"Did you assholes think you could get rid of me that easily?" She hissed. "The Beast may have made England bleed out, but it was me that really put an end to him! Want him back? Come and get me!"

Something in Alfred's mind snapped and he lunged for the girl. "I'LL MURDER YOU!" He screamed.

"No wait! Alfred-kun!" Cried Kiku. "It's a trap!"

Neko just laughed and quickly darted off into the surrounding forest. Alfred followed. After what seemed like seconds, but in reality was probably an hour of running, he lost sight of her and became completely lost. "YOU BITCH!" He screamed. "WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM? TO THE OTHERS? WHY ARE WE HERE? JUST FUCKING TELL ME! TELL ME!"

"You want to know why?" Hissed Neko's voice. It seemed to echo around the trees, causing Alfred to turn in every direction. "Because you deserve to be here! You're all nothing but insects! Something to be crushed underfoot! You should just die!"

Vines, weaved together like a net suddenly appeared from the ground and trapped the American, hoisting him high up into the air. Alfred screamed in frustration and started to rip at the vines. He would get down from there as quickly as possible. He would not let Arthur or anyone else die because of these creatures anymore.

"Go on!" Laughed Neko. "Keep going! You're almost there! But be careful you little bastard! The Beast doesn't like it when her meat gets damaged too badly!"

"I'LL KILL YOU!" He screamed as he ripped the final vine. He fell to the ground, but not completely. A vine had wrapped itself around his neck and pulled tightly, like a noose, cutting deep into his throat. If he didn't suffocate, he would bleed to death eventually. He let out a small, weak and pathetic gasp as he tried to free himself, but the lack of oxygen made it impossible for him to move his limbs anymore.

It was at that point that Neko emerged again from her hiding spot in the undergrowth. She smirked as she looked up at him and laughed. "You already tried to kill me, it never works… Now it's time for you to sleep America… Sleep forever you damn bastard." With no effort at all, Neko slowly levitated up to his level and gently held his head, gently caressing his cheeks in her hands. "Now… What is that famous little phrase? Oh yeah… I remember now… Off with your head. She smiled sweetly and sharply twisted, ripping Alfred's head off his body.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **I have no idea what I'm doing anymore… All the deaths are becoming so bloody and violent (not that they weren't before, but you know what I mean right?). Please review.


	22. Game Show

**Shinigami-cat: **Well here's the next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Game Show**

Lapin sighed a little as she poured more water into the giant pot on the stove. "So many people getting killed… What the hell am I meant to make with England? I can't make black pudding because he's lost too much blood… Some kind of meat pie perhaps?"

As she contemplated this, Neko walked in carrying America's head while dragging his body behind her by the ankle. "Hamburgers! Hamburgers! Let's make some hamburgers!"

"Can't." Said Lapin. "I'm making meat pies with England… Make me some dough for the crust… By the way what did you do to him or was it The Beast?"

Neko giggled and sat on the bench. "I found England's body and took off his head. I thought I'd inflict some emotional torture on them by kicking his head into a tree right near them. It worked too. America charged for me and he ended up getting hanged… Then I may or may not have twisted his head off…"

Lapin sighed and rolled her eyes a little. "Wonderful… Hey does that mean that it's only the Axis left? Japan, Italy and Germany?"

"Oh yeah… That's pretty cool." Said Neko. "I seriously thought that Italy would have gotten killed first. He is really and I mean really weak and a coward… A coward that will always die a cowards death."

"That's a little harsh." Muttered Lapin. She looked into the pot and reached inside, pulling out a tibia. All the meat had fallen off it now, leaving only cartilage and the bone. She casually placed it aside with her ever growing collection of bones next to her. She had always found it easier to boil the meat off the bones before draining them and mixing them with different sauces and spices.

"Harsh, but undoubtedly true…" She held America's head up to her eye level and sighed a little. "This one for example is a boy in the body of a man with a hero complex the size of Jupiter… For one such as himself the only true way to die would be to die trying to seek revenge for a woman, or in this case a man, that would never return the feelings of love that he had for them… Such a sad and lonely way to perish…"

"I think Canada's death was possibly the most tragic this time around." Said Lapin quietly. "He died to save Prussia, even if it was only to extend the elders life by simple minutes… He died a selfless death to someone who never ignored him or mistook him for his brother. I truly believe he felt something for the albino."

"Maybe… but I guess he was still trying to figure things out for himself." Said Neko. She giggled a little. "Ah, to be young and in love… But I guess such luxuries are only for the humans of this world… Not even animals procreate for love. They do it because they pick and choose the strongest, best sounding, smartest and prettiest among them… Love is for humans. Not for nations." She tossed America's head in her hand a little. "But life and death are equal to all. Life doesn't choose who is born unto the world, be it visionary, murderer, tyrant, poet or rapist and death takes away all without discrimination, be they leader, brother, mother, infant or an elder."

"How profound of you." Said Lapin. "Are you thinking of being a scholar or a philosopher like Plato or Pythagoras or the great Sorties?"

Neko snorted. "Fuck that shit. It was just talking bullshit just then… Where's The Beast? Still not back yet?"

"I guess not." Said Lapin sadly. "I do hope she's okay… She's such a small girl and the last time she went out, Russia almost bashed her skull in. Perhaps we should look for her?"

Neko shrugged and put America's head to the side. "Alright then. We'll search the area and… Wait, do we even know where Italy and Germany are?"

"They are making their way towards the office building." Said Lapin. She put a lid on the pot and turned it down to a low simmer. "Okay. Let's go find her and then we can feed her… While we're out let's get some more seaweed."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Kiku was scared, one wouldn't have known it from just looking at the Japanese man's seemingly calm and emotionless features but he was truly terrified. He knew that Alfred would have been dead by now. That witch would have made sure of that by now. He decided to keep going with the original plan and made his way to the hospital.

Once inside he found an empty room and sat on one of the beds. He desperately wanted to know why this was happening to them. '_Why? Why does this creature want us all dead? What did we do? Why?_'

He took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself and decided to take in his surroundings a little better. He had just chosen to stay in this room because there were no monsters in it. There were messages scratched into the back of the door and maybe even painted there with blood.

_I keep running but there is no end to this nightmare._

_It's already too late to run._

_The game is almost at an end._

_You want to live? Why don't you give up? Living is pointless._

_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._

There were other messages scratched and painted on, but these ones were the clearest of them all. Others were too scratched and bloody to make out. It didn't give Kiku much hope. They all pointed to his immanent death. It seemed that not one person had ever escaped this island and it would be unlikely that he would stand a chance.

'_We're all doomed aren't we? Those witches won as soon as we woke up here…_' He thought bitterly. Taking a deep breath he slowly stood up. '_So that's it? I resign myself to this fate? A death that I can't possibly save myself from… To die by the hands of those witches, monsters or The Beast? Why should I? I will not go down without a fight._'

He held the katana tightly in his hand and walked out of the room. He needed to have a look around and see if he could find anything to eat or drink in this place. He sighed a little and started to walk down the hallway. Making sure to be cautious of any monsters that may or may not come his way.

After a fruitless effort on the bottom floor, Kiku decided to go upstairs and have a look around. To do so, he waked over to the staircase and froze. There was a rusty brown colour streaking the floor and some of the walls. It looked as though someone was dragged or possibly ran away from someone or something into the basement of the building.

Being curious, Kiku decided to follow it to see where it went to. The steps led down to a heavy looking metal door. There was writing on the door.

_My wounds aren't closing up anymore. I can't try to kill myself anymore. I can't die a painless death._

Unsure of who wrote it, Kiku slowly opened up the door, the lights were still on in the other room. It looked like another operating room, bit smaller and covered in blood that was going through various degrees of drying. Some was black, some was dark brown, some was a rusty red, some was freshly congealed blood. Someone had been in here recently.

Cautiously, Kiku entered the room. He had hoped to find some sign of the person who had been there recently, besides the freshly congealed blood. The only things that didn't seem to be covered in blood were the medical supplied in the rather old looking cabinet. He couldn't open it to examine the supplies properly.

Suddenly everything started to drift out of focus into a strange red blur that made Kiku dizzy. He didn't understand what was happening, but when everything came back into focus again the room was no longer covered in blood. It was clean. Almost new even.

"W-what?"

The sound of feet hitting the ground and the screams of a small child made Kiku jump. Before he could move or say anything The Beast ran into the room. Blood seemed to be streaming from skin like sweat leaving a bloody trail wherever she went.

Kiku thought that this was the end for him. He thought that The Beast was going to murder him right then and there, but she didn't. Instead she passed through him, like he was a ghost and threw herself into the corner of the rom, falling to her knees.

'_Is this… Is this a memory from The Beast herself?_' Wondered Kiku to himself.

The Beast sat in the corner of the room crying something horrible, almost close to screaming. "IT HURTS!" She screamed. "IT HURTS! JUST KILL ME ALREADY! IT HURTS! PLEASE JUST KILL ME!"

The doors of the room flew open and Kiku gasped. In rushed Lapin and Neko carrying medical equipment and a large bloodied box. Neko quickly slammed the box on the table while Lapin quickly picked The Beast up and put her on the table. It was then Kiku saw her face. It was bright red, but not from blood. She had no skin on her face at all.

"Take deep breathes." Said Lapin soothingly. "We have something to help you… so please… please don't cry." She turned to her sister. "Come on Neko! We need that skin graft!"

"Two seconds!" Snapped Neko. She opened up the box and started to rip and pull at something. Whatever it was, blood kept spraying out all over Neko as she worked. After a few seconds she pulled out a thin sheet of skin and passed it to Lapin. "Use this."

Lapin nodded and quickly started to stitch the flesh to The Beast's face. All the while The Beast was screaming and shrieking. "I'm sorry!" Whimpered Lapin. "You know anaesthetic doesn't work on you… Forgive us… Please forgive us…"

Kiku couldn't take the screaming anymore. He put his hands over his ears and shut his eyes. "Stop it… Just stop it… She doesn't want to live anymore… Just let her die if she wants to. You're just making her suffer…"

Soon the screams died down and The Beast's body went limp. Lapin and Neko looked at each other and gulped. "Is she… is she dead?" Whispered Neko. She sounded terrified.

Lapin quickly checked her pulse. "No… She's still alive… She's just passed out… Poor girl. She's exhausted. Best let her sleep for a bit…"

"Or we could check to see if she needs anything else fixed." Said Neko. She looked back into the bloody box and smiled a little. "I have some eyes in here… and some bits of skull."

Lapin pulled back The Beast's eyelid. "She needs a new one. What colours do you have?"

"Green, purple, brown and blue… and a partially crushed red one." Said Neko. "Gross…"

"Pass me a blue eye." Said Lapin. "That way her eyes will match." Slowly everything morphed into a sickly grey blur.

When everything came back into focus, Kiku was kneeling on the ground trying his best to catch his breath. '_Those witches… Are they… Are they trying to keep her alive against her will? Does she want to die?_'

He didn't know what to think and so he slowly stood up and re-examined his surroundings. He now understood that the dried blood within the room wasn't a murder victims like he originally thought. It was all from The Beast. It was hard to think that one small body could bleed so much without meeting her end. But he had to remember this girl wasn't normal, nor was she human. She was a monster. A monster that wanted them all dead for reasons that were still unknown.

He glanced over at the rusty and dull medical equipment. Some of it still had chunks of flaky skin on it. It was all dried and cracked. It reminded him a little of leather.

"I should leave…" He muttered quietly.

Kiku turned to leave when it happened. It was too sudden and quick for him to have avoided it, but it happened. A cabinet fell from its fixed position on the wall and landed on the Japanese man. It pinned him down to the ground and knocked the katana out of his hand. Kiku was winded and shocked to say the least.

He attempted to pull himself out, but it was too painful. The broken glass, metal and any other sharp objects within the cabinet had imbedded themselves into his back. He was trapped. "Curses…"

He wasn't sure how long he stayed in that stunned position. It could have been hours or even days before the soft padding of feet brought him back to reality. He nervously bit his bottom lip. '_Damn it… I can't call for help can I? If it's a monster it will kill me, if it's a witch they will kill me, if it's The Beast she will kill me… I don't even know if Feliciano-kun and Ludwig-san are still alive…_'

The door slowly opened and The Beast came in. She slowly walked down the steps humming happily to herself. When she saw Kiku she giggled and slowly walked up to him, her face was twisted into an unnatural smirk. "Well, well, well… what have we here?"

"I know…" Said Kiku. "I know what they have done to you… I know what they are doing to you. I know the pain you're suffering because of them."

The Beast crossed her arms. "Do you… do you really think you know what I suffered? Do you think you know how I truly felt?"

"Those witches…" Whispered Kiku. "Those witches are keeping you alive when you don't want to live… You are in pain."

"Constant pain…" Muttered The Beast. "But not from them. They have saved me countless times. You and everyone else is killing me in the slowest most painful way possible."

"I-I don't understand." Said Kiku. "None of us have ever met you or done any ill will against you. Why are you killing us?"

The Beast chuckled and crouched down to Kiku's eyelevel. To make sure he was looking right at her, she grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head up. This caused him to wince in pain. "I like your country… they have such interesting game shows… So today we are going to play a game. For every question you get right I won't do anything to you, but for every question you get wrong your suffering will worsen to the point where you either pass out from pain or bleed to death. If you pass out I will just wait until you're awake and we'll start again. Shall we begin?"

"W-what happens if I win?" Asked Kiku quietly.

The Beast thought for a moment. "If you win I'll let you out from under there. You are playing for your life after all, no matter how short it may by. Shall we start? There are twenty questions per round. No one has ever made it past round one."

"I'm ready." Said Kiku. He hoped that the questions would distract him from the pain.

She smiled a little. "Okay… Who was the first to die?"

"Lovino…"

"WRONG!" Screamed The Beast. She quickly jumped up and landed on the cabinet. This forced more broken glass and metal into Kiku's back, making him scream in pain. "FRANCE DIED FIRST! HE WAS GUTTED ALIVE AND REANIMATED! HE DIED FIRST!"

"YES!" Cried Kiku. "IT WAS A MISTAKE! I'M SORRY!"

The Beast jumped off and glared at Kiku with her cold, emotionless eyes. "You are not sorry, but you will be. I'll be nice and give you an easy one. What do I do to the people killed here?"

"Y-You eat them…" Whimpered Kiku pitifully.

"Correct." She said sweetly. "Now for a riddle… I am always hungry, I must always be fed, the finger I touch, will soon be red."

This had Kiku stumped. If it was under normal circumstances he probably would have been able to solve it no problem, but in this place, under these conditions… it was impossible. "I… I don't know…"

"Fire." Said The Beast maliciously before jumping back into the cabinet and making Kiku scream. This treatment continued on for a long, long time until blood started to burst from the Asian nation every time the cabinet was pushed against him. Eventually he could hardly speak anymore, instead he would let out a messy garble of letters. Occasionally stringing them together to make a word.

"W… why…?" He murmured. "Why us…?"

The Beast giggled a little and sat in front of him. "Because it could only be you. No one else… Now it's time for the last question and the end of the first of, hopefully, many rounds. Who will die next? Germany or Italy?"

Kiku looked up the sick girl with wide eyes. Did she want him to choose between his friends? Is that what she wanted? He couldn't tell, but there was only one logical answer. "… Neither."

"What?" The Beast looked extremely confused, so Kiku decided to explain himself.

"Neither will… die next… be… because I'm next… I can't… survive much… much longer…"

The Beast contemplated this for a moment and nodded in agreement. "Yes… You're right." She slowly stood up and walked over to the bench and picked up a rusty scalpel. "I had high hopes for you… I thought you would be a little more entertaining, but I guess even an omnipotent being such as myself can make a mistake." She walked back over to Kiku with an evil look in her eye. "Goodbye Japan."

She crouched down in front of Kiku and grabbed his arms. Kiku knew what she was going to do, but didn't have the energy to fight her. The Beast giggled a little and slit his wrists before pulling his head up and slitting his throat. It didn't take long for Kiku to bleed out. He had already lost most of his blood anyway.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **And then there were two… please review.


	23. Insanity

**Shinigami-cat: **Well I think it's time to see what's happening with Italy and Germany now, don't you? With a special guest appearance from an already dead character! Well… I OWN NOTHING!

**Insanity**

Neko was the one to find The Beast. She was sitting in the hospital basement, humming a song from an unknown language. Neko chuckled a little and crouched in front of her. "Hey kid, you need to let us do our job. Just go home and have an English pie, okay? We don't want you to over work yourself. If you did, well… that would be bad."

The Beast nodded and smiled sweetly. "I know… I'm sorry. I just wanted to get revenge on the people that murdered you."

"You know you don't need to do that." Said Neko happily. "You know they can't kill us. Unlike them, we are eternal beings. Humans, humanity, nations and countries will go, yet we will always remain… and when we finally do go, it'll be because you have decided it."

The Beast nodded again and looked down at her feet. "I know… I understand… I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you two."

"Don't apologise." Said Neko sternly. "You haven't done anything wrong… Is that Japan?"

The Beast looked over at the corpse under the cabinet and nodded. "Yes. He was the one that cut you up… England was the one you were trying to kill… America was the one that shot you… I need to kill him."

"No need." Cooed Neko. "I killed him. He suffocated before I twisted off his head… I can make you some hamburgers and um… sushi… if you like."

The Beast smiled and hugged Neko. "Thank you… I'm tired… Take me home please."

Neko nodded and picked The Beast up. She was such a small and fragile thing in her arms. She looked ill too, but she was getting better like she always did. She always got better after she had eaten their flesh. "Okay, let's go."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They arrived at the office building. It seemed more than a little foreboding to say the least. Ludwig could tell that Feliciano was a little reluctant to enter that place again. After all, he had fallen out of one of the windows when they first came here. He looked over at the smaller man and smiled reassuringly. "It's okay Feli, we should be safe here."

"That's what we thought back at the church…" Said Feliciano quietly. "But we weren't safe there were we? Those witches… that thing they serve… None of us will leave here alive will we? We are the only ones left."

Ludwig frowned. "We… we don't know that for sure… Yao and Ivan could still be alive. For all we know they are just trapped somewhere… and Matthew and Gilbert could still be…"

"Ludwig… the witches threw Gilbert's bloodied iron cross and Matthew's cracked glasses threw the window at us." Said Feliciano. "I don't… I don't think that they made it… I'm sorry."

The blond nodded sadly. "I know… I just don't want to think of him or anyone as gone for good… I mean, how can we? We are countries. We don't die as quickly or as easily as humans do. Let's just get inside… I think some Gassers are following us." Sure enough there were green gas clouds drifting in their direction.

Feliciano nodded in agreement, looking up at the tree line. "Yeah… There are some Gobblers too." Sure enough, some of those creatures crawling through the trees towards them.

Without much hesitation the pair quickly moved into the office building and barricaded the door. They didn't need Gobblers or Gassers after them inside an in closed space. Once the door was barricaded the pair sighed and looked around. The place still looked like a wreck, but hopefully it would stay standing.

"Should we look around?" Asked Ludwig. "We need to see if there's any food here. We need to survive as long as possible."

Feliciano nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but I'm not sure if there's any food in here… Do you… do you smell that?"

"Smell what?"

"It smells… metallic." Said the Italian in an uneasy voice. "It's coming from the floor above us…"

Cautiously the pair slowly walked up to the second floor. They were both shocked to see that this floor seemed to be covered in dry blood. It was disturbing to say the least. Ludwig glanced over at Feliciano to see how he was reacting to this. The Italian looked scared stiff. "It's okay Feli… Well get through this."

Feliciano nodded and nervously chewed the inside of his cheek. "The smell… it's coming from further up there… It… it smells fresh…"

Ludwig could smell it too. He gently squeezed the Italian's shoulder. "Come on… Let's see what it is before trying to find somewhere safer… Terrible things happened here."

The pair slowly walked up the hallway until they came to a room. The door was closed, but there was an ungodly amount of fresh blood pooling out from under the crack under the door. The site made them both feel uneasy. With shaking breaths, Ludwig slowly opened the door. The room was covered in blood. It couldn't have been more than a week old. The ceiling seemed to have collapsed and from the wall hung cutaway piano wire.

'_A trap?_' Wondered Ludwig. '_But who was it for?_'

"Gilbert…" Sniffled Feliciano quietly. Ludwig looked over at Feliciano and was about to ask him what he was talking about when he say Feliciano's face. He was looking down at the ground, so he followed the other's gaze and gulped. Mixed in with the blood on the ground clothing fragments, cut up bits of organs, something that looked like part of someone's fingers and clumps of silver hair.

Ludwig could feel a lump forming in his throat. "No… he couldn't have… He wouldn't have fallen for a trap like this! He's not an idiot!"

"Maybe the witches tricked him?" Suggested Feliciano. "E-either way I want to get off this floor. I just… I don't want to see where he died… It's… it's not right."

Ludwig nodded in agreement and closed the door. He wanted to see the room where Gilbert was moments before he died. He wanted to know why his brother would leave the safety of the church to go to this place. It was obvious that they would need to find somewhere safer to hide, if this place had traps in it.

The pair made their way up to the next floor. It was less bloodied compared to the previous floor, but that didn't make it any less scary.

After some searching the pair found the room they were looking for. The room didn't look like much compared to the previous room, but there was a large blood pool on the floor and there was a slight smell of acid in the air.

'… _What the hell happened here?_'

Feliciano gulped a little. "M-maybe Matthew tried to save Gilbert and he got killed by one of those things that spit acid… an Anxiety and Gilbert fell through the floor or Matthew got killed after him? It's impossible to know…"

"I know…" Said Ludwig. He wanted to know what happened here. He wanted to know why this was happening. None of it made sense to him. He wanted to know what the witches would gain from this mindless killing. Could there be no real method to this madness at all.

He ran his fingers through his hair and quickly walked away from that room. "Let's look for a relatively safe place to sleep for the night." He muttered. "I-I think we should look for another place to stay in the morning. We can't stay here. It's not safe."

"Is anywhere safe anymore?" Muttered Feliciano as he quickly followed Ludwig.

As the German rounded a corner, his shirt snagged a nail, cutting into his skin. He hissed slightly in pain and pulled away. "This place is falling apart… When do you think it became this way, Feli." No response. Frowning turned to see that the Italian was gone. "Feliciano?"

Looking around he sighed. '_He must have run off again…_' He thought bitterly. '_Why doesn't he ever stay still? Something could happen to him in here damn it._' With mild frustration, Ludwig started his search for the Italian.

After searching several floors twice over, he ended up back on the third floor but this time it smelt bad. It had a very pungent and metallic smell. It smelt like blood. Fresh blood. "Feli…"

Wasting no time, Ludwig quickly moved towards the source of the bloody smell. When he rounded a corner he got more than he bargained for. Ludwig trembled in fear as he looked down at the mangled corps that was Feliciano; His dull eyes screamed fear, chunks of his arms, leg and stomach were missing, like he had been ravished by a blood thirsty beast. Blood was still flowing out of his mouth and nose.

Ludwig's stomach churned as he quickly turned around and vomited. "Oh shit… Who did this to you? Why? Why do I taste blood?" He shook his head and looked back at Feliciano's corpse. It was horrifying to say the least. He couldn't understand how anyone could do this to him. It had to be the witches.

He noticed a piece of paper next to Feliciano knelt down next to his body to retrieve it. It was a yellow flyer, probably ripped off the wall. It was written by Feliciano because he could recognize the almost illegible writing. With shaking hands he read over the note.

_I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I'm going to be killed. I'm going to be eaten. He's chasing me. I can't keep running. Not like this. If anyone should find this paper. I urge you. Please save us. I don't know if it's the work of the witches or not, but he's snapped. We are all hungry. We can't find food. I'm scared. I don't want to die like this. The one who killed me for food is not a monster or a witch. The person who killed me was Ludwig Beilschmidt. _

The rest of the note was too bloodied to read, if there was any more to read. Ludwig's hands trembled as he dropped the note. He chuckled. "This is a joke right? I… I didn't kill him… I didn't eat him right? This is all just a bad dream… I would never do something like that to him… I just couldn't… It's not possible…" He backed away from Feliciano's body, still shaking in fear, glancing around the hallway.

As he looked around he managed to catch his reflection in a door window, what he saw made his blood freeze solid in his veins; blood streaked his messed up hair, Feliciano's meat stuck out between his teeth, his shirts and hands drenched in blood.

"No…" He whispered. "I… I didn't… I… I… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

He was shaking horribly by now. He couldn't take his eyes off of Feliciano's corpse. He couldn't fathom how he, Ludwig, had killed Feliciano, let alone eat him Feliciano's last testament and the blood on his body implied. He looked at Feliciano's corpse for a few moments more before he turned and ran. He couldn't face what he had done. He didn't know how far he ran or for how long, but by the time he stopped he was outside a yellow door that was partially open. Taking a deep breath he slowly opened the door.

There was a figure standing in the corner of the room looking out the window. He was wearing a Nazi military uniform and had bright silver hair. It was Gilbert. Before Ludwig could voice his joy at seeing his brother alive, the Prussian spoke first.

"Did you do what needed to be done or were you too weak?" He snapped.

Ludwig looked at his brother's back in shock. "What?"

"Italy." Snapped Gilbert. "Did you kill him yet?"

"Gilbert…"

Gilbert growled and slammed his fist against the glass. "Fucking god damn it! We fucking drew straws you little bitch! We agreed that the shortest fucking straw would get eaten! That little shit fucking ran for it and you were meant to kill him! Don't fucking tell me that he got away! You can't fucking kill for shit!"

"Feliciano's dead!" Yelled Ludwig. "I… I killed... I killed him…"

Silence filled the room for what seemed like hours until Gilbert broke the tension with his signature laugh. "Keseseseseses! You greedy swine. We all agreed we would save the blood if we ran out of water and you fucking ruin it all. You must have been starving more than I thought." He turned around and faced his brother. He had an insane glint in his eye that Ludwig had only seen during their darkest days of WWII.

"… What have you done with my brother." Hissed Ludwig. Whoever this man was, he wasn't Gilbert.

Gilbert glared at Ludwig darkly. "What the fuck are you talking about? I am Prussia! Get your shit together you little brat, it's time to draw straws again." He took a handful of straws out of his pocket and held them up to Ludwig. "You remember the rules right? The witches themselves even said it… Only one can live to see the end and we're the only two left… Some come on… Pick a straw."

Ludwig shook his head and slowly backed away from the crazed Prussian. "This… this isn't right… You're not him… you can't be. You are his past. He isn't like that anymore."

"So you're not going to pick?" Hissed Gilbert darkly. "Well, fine with me you little shit!" He picked up a revolver from a table and pointed it at Ludwig. "Rules are rules, West. If you don't follow them you get punished!" Three bullets were fired. One to Ludwig's stomach, one to his knee and one to his shoulder.

As Ludwig lay there, bleeding helplessly on the floor the silver haired demon slowly approached him. '_This isn't real…_' He thought. '_It can't be… how can it?_'

Gilbert crouched down next to Ludwig and pressed the barrel of the gun against Ludwig's forehead and smirked. "Nothing personal, but I don't want to die, so you're going to have to… Big brother knows best, right?" A final gun shot rang out in the building.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

With the sound still ringing in his ears he slowly opened his eyes. He was leaning against a wall and clutching the front of his shirt tightly. As the world came back into focus the ringing in his ears slowly died away, he started to hear the erratic should of his own breathing and the almost painful pounding of his own heart.

'_What… what the hell was that?_' He thought in a panic. '_Gilbert he… he murdered me… and I… I murdered Feliciano… I-I murdered him in cold blood… How could I? Why? Why is this happening? The way… the way he acted it was like back then… That dark, evil monster came back…_'

"Ludwig!" Called Feliciano as he quickly turned a corner. "D-don't run off like that! What if something happened to you?"

Ludwig's eyes went wide with shock. Feliciano was alive. Of course he was. He must have experienced a 'memory pulse' that the others had mentioned before. It was a horrifying experience, but even though Feliciano was alive and well in front of him, he couldn't shake the uneasy and gory image of Feliciano's corpse in his mind. It had been too real. It didn't seem like someone else's memory. It was too personal. It had to have come from him. From a dark part of his memory. Something that realistic couldn't have been fabricated by those witches.

"Stay away from me!" Snapped Ludwig quickly. He didn't know what scared him more, the fact that he felt terrified or the fact that he sounded terrified.

Feliciano stopped in his tracks. He looked just as scared as Ludwig felt. "L-Ludwig… what's going on?"

"I… I don't want to hurt you again…" Said Ludwig quietly.

"But you've never hurt me before." Said Feliciano. He slowly started to walk towards Ludwig with a small smile on his face. "Come on, everything is okay now. You can trust me."

Ludwig shook his head and slowly started to back away from his friend. "No… stay away… I'll just hurt you again… I can't… I can't let that happen again!"

"But you haven't hurt me!" Cried Feliciano. Tears were starting to form in his eyes. "Please Ludwig… You're scaring me…"

Ludwig gulped as he continued to back away. "I don't… I don't want to kill you again." He turned and ran. He didn't know how long he ran for, but he knew that Feliciano wasn't following him because he couldn't hear his footsteps.

Eventually he gave up running and ended up sitting at the top of a flight of steps. He couldn't handle the fear that was quickly eating him away from the inside out. He wasn't normally emotional, but when he was it was in its extremities.

'_I can't… I just… What the hell am I supposed to do?_' He thought miserably. '_I don't know what to do! Why is this happening? I just… What am I supposed to do in this situation? I… I have no idea!_' As he continued to drown himself in fear fuelled thoughts Lapin happened to appear at the bottom of the steps and smiled.

"Hey… Tough day?" She asked happily.

Ludwig looked up at her and growled. "What the hell are you doing here? Have you come to kill me?"

Lapin shrugged. "Maybe yes… maybe no… Perhaps I came for Italy instead…"

"Don't you touch him!" Snapped Ludwig. He quickly got up and moved down the steps towards the grey eyed girl. He messed up his footing on the third step and slipped. It all happened too quickly. At least when he hit the floor his neck was turned at an odd angle, indicating that he probably died a relatively quick and painless death.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Feliciano hadn't moved from the hallway where he had last seen Ludwig. He had a look of fear and confusion plastered to his face as tears freely flowed. '_Why? Why is this happening? What do they want from us? Why did he run away? Why? Just why?_'

Suddenly Neko appeared at the end of the hallway with a big grin on her face. "Hello Italy!" She beamed.

Feliciano gasped at her sudden appearance and quickly turned around to run away, only to see Lapin was standing at the other end. She was also smiling happily. "It's not nice to run away when someone says hello to you." She said.

Neko laughed and happily skipped over to Feliciano. "Yeah, we are just saying hi to you."

Lapin giggled and started to walk towards Feliciano too. "Yeah… Besides, this is a very special day for us all…"

By now Feliciano was trembling in fear. He had no one to help him. No one could save him. He was all alone. He whimpered and fell to his knees. He knew his time was up. There was no denying it. Suddenly the girls pulled party poppers out of thin air and let them off. "… Huh?"

Neko laughed and threw a handful of confetti up into the air. "Now is a time of celebrating!"

Lapin nodded in agreement. "Yep! You are the last one standing! You won the game!"

Feliciano looked up at the girls with wide eyes. "The… the last one?"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **So… yep. Probably two more chapters after this… Please review!


	24. The End

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… here it is… second last chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**The End**

Neko and Lapin looked down at Feliciano happily. "That's right." Said Neko. "You're the last one alive. The other are dead… Which reminds me, who caused Ludwig's death because he wasn't exactly attacked by a monster or went completely deranged from my memory things?"

Lapin thought for a moment. "Um… Let's call that one a freak of nature… He kind of slipped and snapped his neck…"

"Damn… that's a really stupid death…" She sighed and pulled Feliciano to his feet. "Oh well, let's get going to see The Beast."

Lapin nodded in agreement and held onto Feliciano's other arm. "Okay! Those are the rules. Last one standing gets to ask The Beast one question… Though we all know what it is. It'll be why."

Feliciano nodded. "Yeah… But can't you two just tell me what I want to know?"

"Those are not the rules." Said Neko.

"That's right." Said Lapin.

The trio walked out of the office building and started to walk down the road. As they did so, Feliciano noticed that the monsters were starting to melt into muddy puddles and the buildings were starting to deteriorate. '_What… what is this?_'

Neko giggled a little at Feliciano's bemused expression. "You see, this island is a perfect untouched land. No human has ever set foot here and so The Beast is free to change its formes over and over again."

"When she changes it she puts her personality into it too." Said Lapin. "The buildings will become old and broken, the houses in shambles… everything is just broken in some way… She then lets the memories of those who died before to make this nightmare… Poor dear, she can't dream but she has nightmares instead…"

Feliciano nodded. He felt numb now. He knew he was done for. He felt like he was being led away by the Grim Reaper. "So this is it…" He muttered. "I'm going to die aren't I?" He sniffled a little. "I don't want to die…"

Neko giggled at his fear. "Don't be afraid little one." She cooed.

"Yeah, Italy." Said Lapin. "We're almost at our house anyway…" They walked into the mouth of a cave and down a few hundred meters until they came to a mysterious, large metal door. "Well… we're here…"

Neko nodded and waved her hand in the air. The door unlocked and slowly opened. The inside looked like that of a gran mansion. Feliciano was surprised to say the least. He would have thought that the witches would have lived in a hovel.

"Where do you think The Beast is?" Asked Neko.

"Probably with the plant." Said Lapin. "I think we moved it to the greenhouse… The pods have gotten way to big."

As they walked down the hall, Feliciano happened to look up at the grand paintings on the walls. Most, if not all were beautiful images of a woman with long brown hair and green eyes. '_I wonder who she is…_'

Eventually they got to the greenhouse doors and Lapin pushed them open. "Beast? We have Italy! He's the last one left! I'm sure you know that by now anyway! Are you here?" A snarl echoed around the room and Lapin smiled. "Okay, let's go."

The trio walked into the room and once again, Feliciano was surprised. The greenhouse was beautiful with hundreds of beautiful tropical and forest plants. They were all co existing without any dramas at all. This place was truly beautiful. A small paradise on earth. It was indescribable, but the beauty was short lived when the witches pulled on his arms, making him walk forwards. Eventually they got to the middle of the greenhouse and Feliciano froze in fear.

In the middle of this paradise was a huge, towering, purple and blue plant. The pods on the plant were quivering and looked ready to pop. Just looking at it made Feliciano nauseous. At the base of the tree was The Beast. She was digging around in the dirt at the base of the plant. On closer inspection he could see that her hands were covered in blood, but the blood hadn't come from her. It had come from the earth. The soil was bleeding.

She looked up at the trio and smiled a little. "Italy… So it was you this time…" She slowly stood up and walked over to him. "Italy… Do you know what your question is? Do you know what you want to ask me?"

Feliciano looked down at her. "Why?" He asked as tears slowly started to fill his eyes. "Why? Why are you doing this to us? What did we do? What did we ever do to you? What did we do to deserve this punishment? Why? Just why?"

The Beast chuckled a little. "You're crying… just like I was back then… No matter how much one cried or screams, those pleas will be ignored." She turned and walked back to the plant. "Neko, Lapin. Get us chairs." The witches nodded and clapped their hands. Immediately a white table and white chairs appeared. The Beast sat down and gestured for Feliciano to sit. Which he did.

Once seated he asked again. "Why? Why us? Why would you do this to us?"

"I'll answer your question by telling you my name." Said The Beast. She chuckled a little. "Like your kind I have a name and a title… I never gave myself a name and instead let you name me… You named me The Beast. I chose to keep that name because it was for the best… Lapin and Neko also have titles. Their human names are just Lapin and Neko… if you wish you two may tell him your titles if you like."

Lapin nodded and curtsied to Feliciano. "Hello, my true name, or title if you wish, is Life."

Neko chuckled and bowed to Feliciano. "Hello, my true name, or title if you prefer, is Death."

Feliciano looked at the witches in shock. "Life and Death?"

The Beast smiled and nodded. "Yes. Those are their true names… Now I guess I should tell you my title. My name is… Earth. I am the personification of this planet, the same way Lapin and Neko are the personifications of life and Death and the same way you and your friends are the personification of countries… I guess I am not what one would expect… I'm not older and beautiful like my paintings would led you to believe…"

Feliciano's jaw almost it the table. He didn't even know that what to say. "You are… you are earth? Not the… not a demon? The devil? But you… why? How can you revert back to childhood? None of us have ever… I don't… I don't understand…"

The Beast chuckled. "I'm not like one of you… I don't represent a country. I represent the whole planet. I was forsaken by humanity years ago… Compared to my life, humanity is nothing more than a second… I just wait for the day when humanity will end forever and I can recover from my sickness… Unlike you countries, Lapin, Neko and I change our forms time and time again depending on the dominant species of the time and we stay in its innocent form until the next one takes over… But when I get sick I revert back to a child-like state."

"But what have we done to you?" Cried Feliciano. "I understand that humans have hurt you, but why? Why kill us?"

"Yeah…" Said Lapin. "Italy, We want to tell you a story. But we're only going to tell it once. So listen carefully…"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

There was once a girl, she was so tiny and small and innocent. She thought that she was the only one of her kind because she didn't know others that were like her. There were those that were similar to her, but she never spoke to them. They spoke in languages that confused her so she would busy herself with the animals instead.

One day she found some people that were like her, but they were more connected to the people. She would have spoken to them, but they were fighters and were constantly hurting each other. Occasionally they would harm her, but it would be no more than a scratch.

As time went by she observed everything from afar. She watched these strong creatures grow and disappear with time. It was an oddly beautiful and tragic thing. Eventually though, she started to become very, very ill.

Too many animals were dying, the air was becoming thick with toxins and the earth under her feet was becoming toxic. Her skin was starting to feaster and burn. Her lungs were filling with liquids. She was starting to rot away into nothingness.

Many times she tried to talk to the others. She tried to get them to listen. They didn't hear her tiny voice among the crowds of people. They didn't care about her. She was a child that removed herself from the world. Did that mean she didn't deserve to live? No. She had to try harder to make them listen. She started to make things happen. She caused tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes and all manner of natural disasters. They still didn't listen to her.

Eventually she got fed up with everything and escaped to a pure land that had not once been touched by man. This place made her feel better. The air was clearer and just made her feel relaxed. It was here that she decided to make the others pay. She didn't want them to die. She just wanted to bring them here to make them listen to her.

When she first brought them here, they thought she was a monster because of her disfigured body. They tried to hurt her. She got mad. She murdered them all. Not one was left alive.

She was so afraid at that time. She was left alone with on one who cared about her. She was so upset that she created and split the equinox apart to create Lapin and Neko. Sisters that were in perfect balance. These helpers were able to gather the remnants of the people she killed and cooked them up for her to eat.

Since these people technically came from her, she could draw strength from eating them. Once she ate them she felt better. Once she ate them she realized she had the power to bring them back, but they would have no memory of what happened to them.

She and the witches decided to keep bringing them back every time the girl got sick. If they kept doing this the girl would get better slowly over time. They also decided that if this kept happening, one day they might remember and change their ways. Until that day the girl would keep dragging them into her never ending nightmare.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"Do you understand now?" Asked Neko. "You idiots have been here before. This is like the… tenth time you've been the last one alive… Who was the last one surviving last time?"

Lapin frowned a little as she tried to remember. "Um… Oh I think it was Prussia… the time before that was England, Spain was before him and then there was Hungary… I can't remember any farther back than that."

Neko shrugged. "Whatever… Point is you were killing The Beast."

Feliciano shuddered. "So we have all been here before? Arthur was right?"

The Beast nodded. "Yes… He has always been more in tune to magic and nature than most… He was able to sense things that others couldn't… France also remembered too. That's why he was killed first. He remembered everything when he found the ring he cut off his hand back in the 1600's or was it the 1700's? Either way it was when he was a pirate."

"Then those memories pulses… They were our memories?" Asked Feliciano. "Everything that everyone has seen here was nothing more than their memories?"

"That is correct." Said Neko. "I have the power to recall the memories of those that have died. The most painful ones stay around a lot longer than the other ones… I doubt Ludwig's death will haunt us."

Lapin sighed a little. "I have the power to bring things to life… mainly the monsters that attacked you all. I am Life so I am conflicted about killing directly…"

"So let me get this straight…" Said Feliciano slowly. "We have been here many times before so you can punish us for hurting you and you eat our flesh to stay alive, but then we come back to life? How?"

The beast chuckled a little. "I am Earth. I never take away what I can't give back." She got out of her chair and walked over to the plant, touching on of the quivering pods. "This plant is unique… If the soil is soaked with the blood of the dead, it will bring them back to life… In a few days the pods will burst and a new generation of countries will be born and look just how they did before they died. They will have no memory of what happened and the cycle will happen all over again…"

Feliciano's eyes went wide with shock. "So in each pod… is… is one of us? So we aren't the original personification? We are just copies?"

"No." Said The Beast. "You are all originals…" She slowly walked up to Feliciano with a smile on her face. "Italy… Now that you know the truth will you let me do what must be done?"

"W-what?"

"Will you let me kill you?" Asked The Beast. "If you let me do that the next memory you will have is walking up in your hotel room all those weeks ago at the world meeting…"

Feliciano's eyes went wide. "The meeting… people would have been looking for us."

"Unlikely." Said Neko. "This place is in a dimension outside of real time and space… we exist but the time spent here is no longer than the space of the blink of an eye or dream where you come from…"

Lapin smiled softly at Feliciano and placed her hand on Feliciano's shoulder. "Italy… It is understandable that you wouldn't believe us… but what we say is true. We will bring you all back to life. You just have to promise that you won't brush this off as a bad dream when you next awake, like you and the others have done before."

Neko nodded and put her hand on Feliciano's other shoulder. "If you don't remember what has happened here, what we have told you… we can promise you that this twisted game will start all over again. This nightmare will only end when The Beast, Earth has been restored back to her true glory…"

Feliciano's mind was flooded with mixed thoughts. He didn't know what to believe anymore. Everything was so confusing, but it sounded so absolute at the same time. Everything they said seemed to be the truth in some way or another. '_I… I don't know who to believe anymore… I… all this… Why?_'

The Beast was now standing in front of Feliciano. She looked genuinely saddened. "Italy… I want you to trust me… even Rome trusted us when we came to take him away…"

"You… you took away grandpa?" Asked Feliciano with wide eyes.

The Beast nodded. "Yes. We have always taken away countries when they disappear… Prussia though… he was a special case… Besides back then we were a great relief to the Ancients. They saw us as their refuge and willingly went with us into history so Italy… will you trust us to do what is right?"

Feliciano looked at her nervously and nodded. "Yes… I trust you to do what you need to do…"

The Beast smiled and nodded. She opened her mouth and let it unhinge like a snakes mouth. As she did this her teeth became jiggered and twisted. It was like her mouth was filled with broken glass and nails. She lunged forwards sunk her teeth into his face, biting it off. Feliciano only felt pain for a moment before a freezing numbness filled him and he lost consciousness.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **There is one more chapter after this! So don't freak out just yet! Please review!


	25. Epilogue

**Shinigami-cat: **Okay, last chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Epilogue**

Feliciano gasped and quickly sat up in his bed. He was panting heavily and his skin was covered in a fine sheet of sweat. He panted a little as he quickly looked around his room. He was in a hotel. The day before he had been at a world meeting. '_That… that was one scary dream…_'

He slowly got up and got dressed. There was another meeting later that day, right now though, he wanted to get some breakfast. Hopefully he hadn't missed it yet. He quickly walked into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. His cheeks hurt a little and he had a few scratches on his cheek.

'… _That's odd._' He thought. '_I guess I must have scratched myself in my sleep…_' He shrugged it off and started the long walk to the hotel dining room. On the way he happened to hear shouting coming from one of the rooms. Before he could decide if he should keep walking or not, the door opened up to revel a very angry Lovino.

"Fuck you! Fuck everything about you!" He snapped. "You can go to fucking hell you fucking bastard!"

Seconds later Antonio appeared, sporting a black eye. "But Lovi, I swear we didn't do anything last night! I mean, we can both still walk and we're fully clothed!"

"FUCK YOU! DON'T FOLLOW ME!" Screamed Lovino as he marched past his brother and up the hall to his room.

Antonio sighed and followed Lovino like a lost puppy. "Lovi…"

Feliciano chuckled a little at this. '_Those two… I wonder when they will finally go out instead of having awkward one night stands._' He hummed a little and turned down the hall and started to walk towards the elevator. For a moment he stood there and imagined what the walls would look like if they were blood red instead of yellow. That thought made him shiver. Shaking that thought away he continued his walk.

He got into the elevator and hit the button. The doors slowly closed and elevator music started playing. He was staying on the twelfth floor. When it got to the seventh floor the doors opened and Alfred, Arthur and Ivan got in.

"Hey there Feliciano." Said Alfred with a grin. "What's up? Those beds are awesome right? I haven't slept like that in ages."

"Ve, the beds are pretty good." Said Feliciano happily. He was glad to see that Alfred was in high spirits, but then again when wasn't the blond happy.

Arthur growled a little as he rubbed the back of his head. "You're giving me a headache… stop speaking so loud you git."

"I think the heater was broken in my room." Said Ivan in an all too cheerful voice. "It felt like I was roasting all night. I could have sworn I was on fire and being burned alive."

"… That's just creepy dude." Said Alfred. Thankfully the door opened and Feliciano got out and sighed a little. Ivan was one creepy dude at the best of times.

He happily walked to the dining room where several people were eating. Feliciano looked over at the food available and frowned a little. Most of it was gone already and there were only a few unappetizing things left. '_I'll just go out and get something from one of the places across the street._' He was about to turn and leave when he spotted Ludwig drinking coffee over the other side of the room.

With a grin he happily made his way towards the blond. On his way he passed Yao and Kiku. They seemed to be in a deep discussion about herbal remedies for back pain and stomach-aches. He payed no mind to it and sat across from Ludwig. "Ve, morning Ludwig. Did you sleep well?"

Ludwig looked up at Feliciano and nodded. "Ja, I slept well. What about you? You have bags under your eyes."

Feliciano frowned a little and touched just under his eye. "I have? I guess I did have a bit of a restless night… Oh well. What can you do? Ve."

"I see…" Said Ludwig. He took a sip of his coffee and frowned. "You better not think you can use being tired as an excuse for sleeping during the meeting today."

"But… okay…" Sighed Feliciano in defeat. He was about to say something else when his stomach gurgled, reminding him that he needed food. "I'll see you later. I'm going to get something to eat. There's nothing here that I want."

"Okay, just don't get lost."

Feliciano chuckled and got up. "I won't get lost." He happily walked out of the dining room and went to the front lobby. There he saw Francis trying to chat Arthur up, but failing horribly.

The Italian smiled at this and walked outside on to the street. It was a bright day and there was a pleasant breeze blowing through the air. It was a perfect day. As he walked down the street he happened to bump into Gilbert and someone who looked a lot like Alfred.

"Ve, hey Gilbert and um… Matthew?" Guessed Feliciano.

Matthew smiled and nodded. "Hi Feliciano. How are you?"

"Ve, I'm good." Said Feliciano. "How about you two?"

"I'm awesome!" Said Gilbert. "Birdie just took me to this awesome place that has awesome pancakes. Not as awesome as his, but still pretty awesome. What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Ve, I'm just going to get something to eat." Said Feliciano.

"The place we went to does an all-day breakfast." Said Matthew. "You could try going there."

Feliciano nodded in agreement. "Ve, I think I will. See you two later at the meeting." He waved goodbye to the pair and continued his walk. As he happily walked he didn't pay much attention to those around him and two children ended up running into him.

He was winded a little, but otherwise unharmed. He looked down at the children and frowned a little. One of them was a girl with white hair and grey eyes and the other was a girl in a black Lolita dress and had yellow eyes. He was a little shocked to say the least.

"Girls! Don't run off like that!" Called a woman. A young woman with long brown hair and wearing a bright red dress came rushing down the street and quickly pulled the girls away from Feliciano. "Lapin! Neko! What have I told you about running off?"

"Sorry." Said Lapin.

"Didn't mean to." Said Neko.

Feliciano smiled at the woman. "It's okay. They just surprised me a little."

The woman nodded a little. "Well I just want to apologize again… If you don't mind me asking are you a tourist? You have an accent…"

"Ve, sort of." Said Feliciano. "I'm not on holidays. I'm working at the moment."

"Do you work for the government?" Asked Lapin. "There's a big meeting about the earth today."

Neko nodded. "Lots of representatives from different governments are meeting up to talk about deforestation, oil rigs, air pollution and the increasing number of animal species."

Feliciano looked at the girls in surprise. "Ve, that's right… How did you know?"

The woman chuckled a little. "I'm sorry about my girls. They tend to say this and that and get people worked up over nothing." She frowned a little. "But are you going to reach a conclusion about what you're going to do about the planet?"

Feliciano chuckled nervously. "I'm not sure… It's hard to get things done in meetings…"

The woman looked sad for a moment before smiling brightly. "I see… I guess it doesn't matter. Things always work themselves out in the end. Earth will do what needs to be done to protect itself from humans." She took hold of Lapin and Neko's hands and walked past Feliciano. "It was nice to talk to you in my true form, even if it was only for a few moments… Italy."

Feliciano stood there in shock. '_Italy… how did she…?_' He turned around to try and call the woman back, but she and the two girls had disappeared into the crowd of people. A shiver ran down his sine, shaking him to the core. '_Who were they?_'

**The End**

**Shinigami-cat: **Thank you all for reading this story and reviewing. Please have a look at my other works if you feel like it. I don't mind… Please review.


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